Katniss The Vampire Slayer - Season One
by Fanfic Allergy
Summary: Panem, California was supposed to be a sleepy little town with an oddly disproportionate number of cemeteries. The Everdeens had moved there in order to give their eldest daughter, Katniss, a fresh start. Little did they know just how mistaken they were. Thankfully there's an all night bakery and coffee shop on every corner.
1. Ep1 - Prologue - Welcome to Panem

_Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer is property of Mutant Enemy. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork._

 **oOo**

 **Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part One - Welcome to Panem

 **oOo**

Panem, California was a little sleepy little town about two hours north of Los Angeles. It had the requisite Starbucks on every corner, a boutique bakery that was the envy of thirteen counties, a small branch of the University of California, the state champion high school archery team, and an oddly disproportionate number of cemeteries, mostly filled with the unfortunate victims of barbecue fork accidents and gangs on PCP.

It was the kind of town where a couple would feel safe settling down, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, to raise a family. The schools were good. The police more concerned about donuts than drugs. And the children were above average.

Nothing ever happened in Panem. The mayor, Alma Coin, worked very hard to keep it that way.

So it was with some trepidation that two teens tiptoed toward the darkened high school.

"Are you sure it'll be alright?" a small fashionably dressed dark-haired girl of maybe seventeen asked her companion. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and her dark hair was styled in a high ponytail which cascaded over her left shoulder.

The boy, a pale teen with dark curly brown hair and an unfashionable yellow windbreaker, whispered back, "Trust me, it'll be awesome." He looked out of place standing next to the girl and he kept glancing over his shoulder as if to make sure that she hadn't run away.

She raised one immaculately tweezed eyebrow. "You think breaking into the high school's awesome?"

"Have you seen Coach Abernathy's office? Rumor has it the guy's got a liquor stash that puts the Arena to shame!"

"That's not hard. Caesar only stocks fruity and brightly colored stuff and most of his customers are under the age of twenty one, so it's not like there's a lot of drinking going on anyway."

"Right! Which means, if we get in, we can steal Haymitch's stash." He smiled at her shyly, shifting from foot to foot. "We could have our own party."

"That sounds like fun." She placed the tip of her index finger in her mouth and sucked on it slightly. "But aren't you worried about booby traps or being caught on camera?"

He snorted. "I disabled them already. It's not like the technology's very good."

She smiled a bit predatorily. "Oh good. But how will we get in?"

"Miss Trinket always leaves one of her windows open at night. She says it stops the computers from overheating. It's got a lock on it to keep it from opening all the way, but I can get around that. You'll see!" He said it with pride, eyeing the pretty girl shyly, clearly hoping for her approval.

"You're so smart!"

He beamed at her. "Come on." Jimmying the window of one of the classrooms open, the boy wriggled in before helping his date break into the school.

"So where to now?"

Looking around quickly, the boy pointed at one of the doors. "That way. If we go down that hall, we'll end up at the gymnasium."

"And if we go that way?" she pointed in the other direction.

"That leads to the library."

"Hmm. Well, lead the way."

He held out his hand to her. She grasped it quickly, causing him to gasp, "Ooh, you're cold!"

Squeezing his hand reassuringly, she said, "That's 'cause you make me so nervous."

The boy shuffled his feet. "I do?"

"Yeah," she smiled up at him coyly. "I've never had a guy like you."

"Really? You're so… so…"

Tilting her head to one side, she purred, "So what?"

He blushed, glancing down at his feet. "I don't know. Special."

"You don't know how right you are," she replied, her voice slightly distorted.

When the boy looked back up at his date, his eyes widened. The girl's beautiful face had vanished under heavily ridged, almost demonic features and her dark, almost chocolate eyes, were now replaced with bright yellow slits.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Your face!" he gasped. "What happened to your face, Clove?"

She smiled, a smile made all the more horrible by her sharp pointed teeth. "It's not my face you need to be worrying about." With a quick jerk, she pulled him to her, sinking those awful fangs into the side of his neck. He tried to scream, but it was too late.

Miss Trinket found him in the morning, another victim of the gangs on PCP.

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 5/29/15 **  
Revised:** 6/2/15

Rose and I have been talking about this story for a while. Since December. But when the everlarkianarchives tumblr started hosting their Movies in the Month of May we dusted off our old idea and started fleshing it out. This is going to be a true fusion of Hunger Games into the BuffyVerse (including both the movie and TV series) with the HG characters taking on the roles of the Buffy ones. We will not be just rehashing BTVS but there will be some similarities and some differences.

Up Next: Part Two - Meet the Slayer. What's a Slayer?

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	2. Ep1 - Meet the Slayer What's A Slayer?

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth** **  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Two - Meet the Slayer. What's a Slayer?

 **oOo**

"Alright, Katniss, we're here," a tall man with thick dark hair just beginning to go gray at the temples said to the girl sitting in the passenger seat.

Katniss sighed and looked over at her father. "I don't see why we had to move," she said, glaring at a group of kids driving down the street, blaring some kind of guitar and drum heavy anthem. She rubbed her forehead. First day of school and already she had a headache.

Mr. Everdeen ignored his daughter's muttering, instead addressing her first complaint. "The offer was too good to pass up. Besides, did you really want to stay in LA after… you know…"

The topic was a common one in the Everdeen household after the Hemery High disaster and Katniss was sick of her father pussyfooting around the issue whenever it came up. "Say it, Dad."

"Well, you did burn down the gym, honey." He looked over at her apologetically.

"I already told you why."

"And I told you, I believe you," he said soothingly. "I do. But not everyone will. Vampires are a hard sell in this day and age." He paused like he was choosing his next words carefully. "And sweetie, I don't want you to end up in a mental institution, so you've got to be really careful who you trust with the truth."

"I know, Daddy. It's just… I miss my friends." It was more that she missed the familiar streets of her former home and the sounds of the city. Other than Pike, who was off who knows where, there wasn't really anyone she was close to.

A fact her father knew well. "You had friends?" he asked jokingly.

She glared at him. "You know what I mean."

"I know you don't like change, but think of Prim. This is going to be good for her. She-"

"Yeah, she doesn't have to be the Firestarter's baby sister," Katniss added, interrupting her father.

The man scrubbed at his face. "I hate it when you put it like that, it's so Stephen King, but… yes." He took a deep breath and pressed on. "Things are going to be great here. I've got a good job with good benefits. The schools have an A+ rating. And your mother was really lucky to get a job as a partner with that nice Dr. Benjamin."

Leaning her head against the side of the car, Katniss sighed. "I still think he has a weird first name. What kind of parent names their kid Gloss?"

Mr. Everdeen poked at his daughter's arm playfully. "I don't know, what kind of parent names their kid Katniss?"

She shot him a look. "Not helping, Dad."

He smiled at her, love shining from his eyes. "You should go, sweetie, before too many people notice you. You don't want to get to the reputation of being the librarian's pet. Besides, I think Principal Cinna's waiting for you." He pointed to a figure of an adult standing at the top of the stairs to the high school.

"He's gonna hate me," Katniss said, resigned.

"Give him a chance."

"Fine." Katniss got out of the car. "I have a ninety percent certainty he's gonna hate me. Better?"

Her father nodded. "By ten percent. Try to have a good day, sweetie."

"Goodbye, Dad." She trudged down the sidewalk and up the stairs.

As her father predicted, the principal was waiting for her. Principal Cinna was a tall, dark skinned man in an impeccably designed suit with close cropped dark hair and, for a little bit of flair, just the slightest hint of gold eyeliner. His smiled at her warmly, the sentiment reaching his eyes. "Miss Everdeen, welcome to Panem High. It's a pleasure to meet you. Would you mind if I called you Katniss?"

Katniss shrugged. "I don't care." He seemed different from most of the school principals Katniss had been exposed to. Kinder. More laid back.

"Wonderful. Let's go to my office and have a quick chat before your guide arrives to take you to your first class, Katniss."

She regarded him solemnly, unsure if his demeanor was some kind of trick. "Sure. Whatever."

Principal Cinna showed her to his office and motioned for her to take a seat in a surprisingly comfortable-looking chair.

She raised her eyebrow. This seemed almost too good to be true. That instantly put Katniss on edge. "You're not what I was expecting."

The man sat down across from her. "What were you expecting?"

She decided to test him by telling the truth. "I don't know, someone with a little more starch in his collar or a stick up his ass."

He chuckled. "Well, I admit I find starched collars a little itchy and I imagine that having a stick up my ass would be most uncomfortable." He leaned forward and regarded her seriously. "I find it best not to make snap judgments and to get to know my students as people, rather than as pieces of paper."

"So you mean you're not going to judge me by my record?" She eyed the various folders on his desk warily.

He placed a hand on a thick file. "Well, your record is… colorful, to say the least. But I don't see anything here that's a dealbreaker."

"Most schools would find burning down the gym to be a bit of a dealbreaker."

He raised an eyebrow. "Were you planning on burning the gym down here?"

Katniss was shocked at the question. "No. Of course not!" she blurted out without thinking.

"Good." Principal Cinna smiled at her. "Were you planning on burning down any other parts of the school?"

"No!"

"Any arson-related urges at all?"

She shook her head. "No."

Leaning back in his chair, the man said, "Then I think we're fine. Out of curiosity, why did you burn down the gym?"

"It was full of…" she stopped for a moment, remembering her father's words from that morning. "Rats. It was full of rats."

"I see. Rats." He nodded his head as though the explanation were perfectly reasonable. "Well, if there ever comes a time when you discover a rat problem here at Panem High School, please contact one of the janitors or let the office know and we'll take care of the extermination for you."

"Thanks," Katniss replied, stunned.

They didn't get a chance to chat further because someone knocked on the door. "Ah, that must be your guide. Come in, dear!"

The door opened and a slightly plump blond haired girl poked her head in. "Is she ready, Principal Cinna?"

The man nodded his head. "I think we've gone over everything we need to do. Just pick up her class schedule and locker assignment from Portia and you can be on your way."

The girl flashed a grin. "Will do, Principal Cinna!"

Katniss stood up and looked over her shoulder. "Um, thanks, again."

"I'm betting on you, girl on fire. Don't let me down."

Katniss smiled. "I won't. That's a better nickname than the one I've been calling myself."

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I've been calling myself the Firestarter."

He regarded her with interest. "After the book. If you're into reading, I hear the literary club is looking for new members."

Katniss shook her head. "Thanks, but… no. I was thinking of trying something less stressful. Something like… cheerleading."

"Cheerleading?" the blonde girl chirped. "Did you say cheerleading?"

"Um, yes?" Katniss answered, unsure if all of the perkiness was real or not.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" the girl clapped her hands. "I was thinking of going out for the team, tryouts are on Wednesday, we should both go together!"

Katniss took a step back, a little bowled over by the girl's enthusiasm. "That sounds… nice? I'm Katniss, by the way. Katniss Everdeen."

"Oh! I'm Adelaide Cartwright, but everybody calls me Delly."

"Nice to meet you, Delly," Katniss said, her tone warmer and less wary than before. "So… shall we go?"

"Oh, of course. Sure. Absolutely!" They left Principal Cinna's office and went into the main office.

An immaculately dressed woman with curly white hair with a bluish tinge to it pulled out a folder. "Here's everything you need," she said, not even looking up from her computer screen.

Delly grabbed it and thrust it into Katniss's hands. "Thanks, Miss Portia! I'll take it from here."

"You're the most enthusiastic person I've ever had take me on a school tour," Katniss commented as they exited the school office. "Most of the time I get stuck with some member of the AV club or the Student Council President who doesn't want to be there." She winced. She didn't mean to bring up that she'd been to multiple schools, mostly around LA. After she was expelled from Hemery, her parents enrolled her in another school. They'd let her attend for maybe a week and then kick her out when her school records finally showed up. It was thanks to her dad that she hadn't been held back a year. She didn't need that stigma following her here.

Thankfully it seemed that her guide hadn't noticed her slip. "Oh no, I love it," Delly said shaking her head, causing her blond hair to bounce. "It gives me a chance to meet everyone and get to know them, I kind of get the whole scoop, you know? I get to learn the first things about all of our new students. It's really exciting!"

"I guess." Katniss opened the folder and pulled out her schedule. "It says my first class is biology. Then I've got computers and English, then gym, followed by lunch, then history and math." She made a face. "I wanted to take French. What do I need to know about computers?"

"Oh, but you'll love the teacher!" Delly soothed. "Miss Trinket is so much fun. She's got the most quirky sense of humor."

Quirky was what you called the crazy cat lady down the street. It didn't inspire confidence. "Great."

"And you'll have that class with me," Delly continued like Katniss hadn't spoken. "I take computers second hour!"

"Great," Katniss said with slightly more enthusiasm. "At least I'll know one person there."

"Let's make that two. Hi Madge!" Delly waved happily at another blond haired girl, this one slimmer and paler, wearing well-made clothing that wouldn't be out of place on a worst dressed list. "Madge Undersee's my best friend, we've known each other since preschool. Don't let her last name turn you off."

"Why would it turn me off?" Katniss asked, genuinely confused.

Delly leaned over and whispered, "Her dad's in the state house. Not everyone likes his politics."

"Ah. Well, I'm not all that interested in politics…"

The other girl, Madge, approached smiling. "Don't believe a word that this thief says."

"Thief?" Katniss looked over at Delly, confusion written all over her features. Why would anyone call Delly a thief?

"Ha, I was right, she didn't tell you that she stole my Barbie!"

"We were four!" Delly protested.

"I still haven't gotten it back!"

Katniss laughed.

"I see they've got you on escort duty again," Madge said, eyeing Katniss curiously.

"This is Katniss Everdeen. She transferred here from LA."

"Everdeen, Everdeen… are you the new librarian's daughter?" Madge asked.

Katniss nodded her head. "Yup, that's my dad."

"Oh, I love the library!" Delly exclaimed. "They've got so many books! I want to read them all!"

Katniss smiled. "I like the library too." Then her smile slowly faded away. "Though I don't get much time to spend there anymore."

"Why not?" Madge asked curiously.

"Oh, you know, life," she replied with a vague gesture. "Boys. Unexpected extracurricular activities."

Madge looked down at her clothes, picking at them morosely. "I wouldn't know about that. I don't have a life."

"Madge!" Delly admonished. "What about me and Gale?"

"What about it?" Madge asked sadly. "You two are dating, you're like a bicycle. You don't need a third wheel."

"Oh sure we do! You know you're always welcome with us!"

Katniss looked over at Delly in barely-concealed surprise. "You have a boyfriend?" Internally she winced, she didn't mean for it to come out so insulting.

Again Delly didn't seem to notice. "Yeah. We've known each other forever."

"Speaking of… incoming." Madge motioned down the hall.

Katniss turned to see a tall dark-haired boy with muscles on his muscles and a face best described as 'oh my God, he's hot!' approaching. "That's your boyfriend?"

"Gale!" Delly said happily.

"Hey Dels," Gale greeted with a genuine smile on his face. He leaned down and kissed his girlfriend. "How are you doing today?"

Delly cuddled against him and Gale put an arm around her shoulders. "Great!" she said, turning to face the other two. "Gale, this is Katniss Everdeen, Katniss, this is Gale Hawthorne the best boyfriend in all the world!"

"I dont know about that." He smiled down at her. "But I'm your boyfriend so I'm pretty lucky." Gale held out a hand to Katniss. "Nice to meet you. I hope Dels here isn't scaring you away."

Katniss took it, careful not to squeeze too hard. "It takes a little bit more than a nice girl like Delly to scare me."

"Good to know." Gale turned to Delly. "Hey, just wanted to let you know that I'll be picking you up tonight at seven to head to the Arena."

"The Arena?" Katniss asked.

"Oh, it's the best club here in town!" Delly said.

"It's the only club here in town," Madge interjected.

"That makes it the best! Anyway, Caesar's the host, and he's awesome, and they have the best karaoke and baked goods. You want to come?"

Karaoke and baked goods sounded a little odd for a club but she'd heard of weirder in LA. "Sure?"

"Great! Madge, you think you can pick her up?"

Madge opened her mouth to say something but before she could say anything Katniss spoke.

"Oh no, you don't need to, I'll find my own way there," Katniss hurriedly exclaimed. "I've got… things to do, after school, and my mom's really big on this whole family dinner thing, so seven's a little early. But eight, nine? I could do eight or nine."

"We'd just be happy to see you," Delly said encouragingly.

"It's a date," Gale said. "But we should probably get going. Dr. Gregory doesn't like his students to be late."

"Hey, I think we've got the same class," Katniss said, looking at her schedule.

"Great. I'll show you the way."

 **oOo**

The sound of sneakers squeaking across the polished wooden floors was enough to give anyone a headache. Haymitch Abernathy, the long-suffering gym teacher, looked like he had three. The man's arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes were staring at the door to the girls' locker room like he was waiting for someone to come out.

When Katniss entered the gym, adjusting her t-shirt and shorts, Haymitch moved. He pulled out a whistle and blew it. "Alright, everyone. Welcome to Panem, or as I like to call it, the Hellmouth."

Katniss started, looking over at him.

"Anyway, you little demons, I'm your gym instructor, Haymitch Abernathy, and for our first day of class, you'll be running laps. Fifteen of them. Now. Go."

A chorus of groans rose up from the assembled students, but they did as he said. The man was known in student circles for being impatient, and people who didn't follow his orders had a tendency to end up in detention… or worse. There was a rumor that he once threw a wooden stake at a student who disrupted one of the basketball games. The rumor wasn't clear on whether the kid survived, one rumor had it that the kid exploded into a cloud of dust, so nobody really knew if it was true or not.

But better safe than sorry.

Katniss fell into step with the middle of the pack. Haymitch's eyes never left her, narrowing when he noticed that she was clearly making an effort not to stand out.

After five laps, it seemed like he had finally had enough. "Everdeen! Over here! Now!"

Katniss looked over at him, an expression of confusion on her face.

"Get over here!"

The girl crossed over to the surly blond man. "What'd I do?"

"It's what you're not doing," he said to her in a low tone. "You ain't tryin'."

"What do you mean?" Katniss asked, her tone carefully neutral.

He narrowed his eyes. "You could beat these schmucks without even breakin' a sweat and both you and me know it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said in the same tone.

"Don't give me that BS, sweetheart. You're a Slayer."

Katniss's eyes widened at the term. "How do you know that?" she hissed.

Haymitch let out a short bark of laughter. "Cause I'm your Watcher. Name's Haymitch."

Taking a step back, Katniss snarled, "I don't need a Watcher."

"Are you always this delusional or are you just bein' ornery?"

"I don't need a Watcher," Katniss repeated, her eyes a little wild. "I don't need anyone else to die for me. Wiress…"

"Wiress knew the stakes when she went in," Haymitch cut her off. "All of us do. Our job is to keep you alive so you can save the world."

"I don't want to save the world!" she protested, careful to keep her voice down. "I just want to go to high school, maybe date a boy. Go to college. And not have to worry about whether or not I know the plural for apocalypse." She paused, tilting her head. "Is it apocalypses or apocalypsi?"

Chuckling, the scruffy blond man said, "You're askin' the wrong man that. I'm a gym teacher, not a grammatician."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, first rule of staying alive is not having the bad guys realize you're the Slayer," he told her. "Stayin' out of their sight's the easiest way to stay alive."

She crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed. "Is that all the advice you're gonna give me?"

"What, stay alive ain't enough?"

"Not really."

"Fine, you're out of shape," he stated flatly, looking her up and down. "We'll work on your form later. I'll let your pa focus on the book stuff."

"What?" Katniss's eyes widened.

"Oh you mean you don't know?" Haymitch let out a bark of laughter loud enough that several students paused in their laps to look over at them. "My my, sounds like Merrick's got a bit of explaining to do. Go on, I gotta get this class going. Don't want it to seem like I have favorites. Even if I do."

Katniss rejoined the students for the last few laps of their run and quickly took a spot near the head of the group.

Haymitch noted this and nodded his head in approval. When the man finally called it to a halt, she plopped down on the floor next to a blond girl with a partially shaved head wearing super stylish and expensive gym clothing.

"I hate that man!" the girl complained, glaring at Haymitch. "Doesn't he know what all this sweat does to one's hair?"

"Oh you're so right, Cressida!" another girl wearing feathered barrettes said. "If I had to run one more lap I think I'd die."

"I think I died two laps ago," the boy next to her said. "Is it lunch yet? I want a sandwich."

"Not yet, Flavius-baby," the last member of their little group, a girl dressed in all green and wearing green eyeshadow cooed.

"So who are you, new girl?" Cressida asked.

Katniss looked at the four of them and seemed to debate with herself about answering. "I'm Katniss Everdeen."

"Katniss," Cressida rolled the name over her tongue. Her face showed what she thought of its uniqueness. "So, tell me about yourself."

Shrugging her shoulders, Katniss answered, "Well, I'm from LA-"

"LA!" the girl with feathered barrettes piped up. "I love LA, they have so many pretty clothes there! I'm Venia, by the way." She waved at the dark-haired girl.

Katniss waved back. "I guess," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I never really noticed."

Cressida's eyes narrowed. "Don't you like fashion?"

"Oh!" Katniss smiled. "I love nice clothes, I just didn't realize what I had, and then we moved here."

"Oh you poor thing," the girl dressed in green cooed. "Imagine being taken from the big city to a little podunk town like this! It's gotta be horrible!"

"Well, moderately."

"So what else did you do in LA?" Venia asked.

"Um, I was on the gymnastics team for a while, but I want to try something new. Something like, I dunno, cheerleading?"

"Oh you should totally come to tryouts on Wednesday! We're all on the team. I'm sure you'd fit in perfectly! Not like some people," Cressida said.

Katniss raised an eyebrow. "Some people?"

"Yes, some people," Cressida repeated with some heat. "People who just don't understand how they're supposed to act around their betters, and take things that don't belong to them."

"Don't worry, Cressida," the girl in green soothed. "I'm sure Gale will wake up one day and see just what he's missing."

"Thanks, Octavia. I just wish it would happen soon." Cressida sighed. "I need a date for Homecoming."

"I think I'm gonna go take a shower," Katniss said, rising to her feet. "I don't want to smell of sweaty armpits for the rest of the day. See you guys tomorrow." She didn't wait for their replies.

 **oOo**

The Panem High School library was unique. By the librarian's office there was a book cage with some very sturdy wire mesh around it. No one knew why it existed. It almost looked prison-like and there were rumors of librarians past locking up loved ones in the cage until people returned their overdue library books.

There were a lot of rumors in Panem.

Merrick Everdeen was puttering around, familiarizing himself with the previous librarian's cataloging system. Dewey Decimal it was not. "How did anybody find anything here?" he exclaimed to the empty room.

"Oh I don't know, Dad, maybe he just had something to hide."

Merrick whirled. His daughter was standing in the doorway of the library, leaning on the partially closed double door. "Katniss!" He ran a hand through his hair. "How has your day been?"

"Great!" Her tone indicated anything but. "Guess who I met today?"

"Who?"

She pushed open the other library door to reveal Haymitch Abernathy.

Mr. Everdeen's eyes widened. "Haymitch! What a lovely surprise."

"Yeah, you're not the only one getting a surprise today!" Katniss growled, stalking into the room. "Not only did I find out that I have a new Watcher, but my father, the man I trusted and loved, has been lying to me my whole life!"

"Lying to you about what?" Mr. Everdeen asked weakly.

Katniss wasn't having any of it. Pointing a finger at Haymitch, she snarled, "You're one of them. You're a Watcher."

Her father flinched guiltily.

"Heck of a secret to be keeping from your kid, Rick," Haymitch drawled, sauntering into the room and leaning on the counter lazily. "Does your wife know?"

Mr. Everdeen glared at him. "No, and she's not going to."

"She ever know she was a Potential?"

"What kind of idiot do you think I am?"

"Potential?" Katniss interrupted. "What's a Potential?"

Haymitch shot Mr. Everdeen a glance before turning to his charge. "Potential Slayer, sweetheart. Your ma there had the potential to have been the next Slayer. Looks like she passed that down the line to you."

"Lucky me," Katniss said sarcastically.

"So when were you gonna tell her you're a Watcher?" Haymitch turned back to the other man. "Specifically her Watcher?"

"I'm not her Watcher," Mr. Everdeen protested. "I can't be. I'm her father. The rules specifically state-"

"Screw the rules!" Haymitch yelled, slamming his hand down on the counter. "This is about doin' right by your kid."

"She didn't need to know. I didn't want our relationship to change." He glanced over at Katniss pleadingly.

Katniss just stared back at her father. Her hurt and betrayal radiating from every pore.

Haymitch surveyed the two Everdeens before saying, "Well, too bad, it has, deal with it. We got more important things to worry about than father-daughter bonding time. Like keeping your kid alive. I ain't lost a Slayer on my watch, I ain't about to lose one now."

"You've never had a Slayer," Mr. Everdeen pointed out.

"I don't wanna screw up a good track record."

"Hey guys, back to the topic here? Watchers, both of you." Katniss pointed at the two of them. "If you don't want to be my Watcher, Dad, that's just too bad, if I have to be the Slayer, you both have to be my Watchers."

"That's my girl," Haymitch said approvingly. "So I was thinking, Rick, you could take the whole research deal of the Watcher package while I take on the training."

"I'm not taking on anything," Mr. Everdeen insisted. "I'm not her Watcher."

"So what were you doing out here anyway?" Katniss asked Haymitch, ignoring her father's protestations. "You're obviously not new, and I've been a Slayer for less than a year."

"I was exiled out here, sweetheart," the man answered. "To keep an eye on the Boca Del Infierno."

A frown crossed her lips. "The Boca Del Infierno? Mouth of fire?"

"Hellmouth. Panem sits on top of a Hellmouth, and lucky you, you get to guard it." He patted his chest and pants pockets like he was looking for something.

"Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat." Katniss rolled her eyes. "So why'd you get exiled here?"

"It's a long story, sweetheart."

"De-long-ify it."

"Fine. Fell in love with a girl. The Council didn't approve. She died. The end. That short enough for you?" He pulled out a flask from his pants pocket and took a swig.

"Yes."

"Look, Rick, I need you." Haymitch motioned with the flask. "Your girl needs you. You know I'm crap at the research. I don't got the patience for it. Besides, my Fyarl's a little rusty. And don't even get me started on my Ancient Sumerian."

"How's your Latin?" Mr. Everdeen asked curiously.

"I could go to mass, if that's what you're asking."

The other man frowned. "I'll think about it."

"You keep thinking about it and I'll teach frownyface junior here how to fight."

"I already know how to fight," Katniss countered, her frown deepening.

Haymitch whipped his leg out, catching the girl beside him unawares. In one quick swoop, he had her on her back with his hand wrapped around her throat. "Not like me, sweetheart."

"Get off of me!"

Haymitch did, holding a hand out to Katniss. She batted it away, springing to her feet. "Don't ever do that again."

"Oh we're gonna do that again, sweetheart," he disagreed. "Over and over and over. Until you can counter moves like that in your sleep." He paused, looking at father and daughter. "So, who's up for burgers?"

"Only if you're paying," Mr. Everdeen stated.

"Fine, frownyface. Come on, sweetheart, let's go."

The three exited the library.

From behind a shelf of books, Gale Hawthorne stepped out, an expression of confusion marring his face. "What's a Slayer?"

 **oOo**

The Arena was really nothing of the sort. The club was housed in a boxy brick building maybe three or four stories tall in the quote-unquote "bad" part of town, which was about two hundred feet from the "good" part of town. The windows were papered over in film of various bright colors so the light shining into the alleys leading to the main entrance had sort of a rainbow effect. That was just one unusual feature of the club.

Most clubs had their entrance on the main street, but in the case of the Arena, the main entrance was off of an alley behind several other businesses, so to enter the club, one had to walk past several dumpsters and the occasional wino.

Katniss eyed the place with confusion. In LA, clubs like this didn't cater to teenagers, or if they did, they were the kind that catered to runaway teenagers, and Katniss never wanted to have a reason to set foot in one of those.

There were a few kids hanging out by the entrance, smoking cigarettes. She was surprised. The new smoking laws didn't go into effect until January first and most bars weren't going smoke free until they had to. She supposed the alley was a good enough spot; it was better than a gas station or, God forbid, the cemeteries.

Taking a deep breath, Katniss opened the door to the Arena and was immediately assaulted by both the noise and the smell. The smell, oddly enough, was quite pleasant, of cinnamon and freshly baked bread. She wondered, idly, how the owner managed to pull that off. The music, on the other hand, was not so pleasant. Someone was wailing off-key to a Christina Aguilera song. Katniss winced, noting it was one of Cressida's group. Octavia, she thought the girl's name was, the green one.

Trying to ignore the caterwauling up on stage, Katniss looked around, trying to spot Delly and her group.

But before she spotted them, Cressida spotted her, getting up and walking over to her. "Katniss! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Hi, Cressida," she answered politely.

"You want to come over and hang out?" the shaved haired girl offered, motioning to a table by the stage. "We've got some cinnamon buns, fresh from Mellark's." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Caesar has an arrangement with the owner, a total hottie but I think he's gay because he's never shown an interest in girls." Katniss deduced that meant Cressida had hit on him and he had rebuffed her. That earned this owner several points in the Slayer's eyes. Undaunted, Cressida continued, "Every night he gets something new. Last night it was these chocolate chip cookies to die for. Tonight it's cinnamon buns."

Well, that explained the smell.

Behind Cressida, Katniss spotted Gale towering over the rest of the crowd. "Um, rain check? I'm supposed to meet up with another group tonight."

"Oh? Who?" the other girl asked curiously. "Maybe we can all get together and make an occasion of it!"

Katniss pointed at Gale. "Um, them, actually."

Cressida looked then turned back to Katniss, her eyes wide. "You are meeting with Gale Hawthorne?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Is it a date? Tell me it's a date!" the girl begged. "Tell me he's kicked that Adelaide Cartwright to the curb where she belongs!"

"It's not a date," Katniss said with a shake of her head. "As of this morning, he was still with Delly. I suppose something could have changed in the last ten hours." Internally she doubted that, Gale seemed pretty devoted to his girlfriend and Delly was equally devoted to him.

Cressida sighed dramatically. "One can hope."

"Yeah, but I'll see you tomorrow. Gym, right?" Katniss asked out of politeness rather than any interest.

"Sure. But really, Katniss, if you're going to keep hanging out with Delly and Madge… you're not gonna go very far."

"But I'm hanging out with Gale?" the Slayer pointed out.

Cressida considered it, tapping her cheek thoughtfully. "True, he does add a bit to the cool factor. But, really, Delly? That girl needs to die."

"See you tomorrow," Katniss repeated, side-eyeing Cressida. That was going a little too far. Of course Cressida probably didn't mean anything by it, but in Katniss's world one couldn't be sure. She slipped away from the other girl and threaded her way through the crowd.

Up onstage, Octavia finished her song and there was a smattering of applause, probably because the song was finally over more than anything else.

She walked over to the booth holding Gale, Delly, and Madge. Gale had his arm around his girlfriend and she was curled up next to him, smiling up at him happily. Madge was watching the two, envy clearly written all over her face. "Hey guys," Katniss greeted. "So… this is the Arena." She motioned to the mass of teenagers.

"Katniss!" Delly cried, grinning happily. "You made it!"

"So it would seem."

"You're just in time too! I'm supposed to go up onstage in a few songs, but I think you should go instead!"

Katniss took a step back. "Me? Sing?"

"Oh come on, everyone sings at the Arena!" Delly enthused. "Caesar insists on it!"

"Caesar?"

Delly looked around for a bit before pointing at a flamboyantly dressed man in a red sequined suit with a bright blue silk tie and navy blue hair. Coupled with his white shirt, the guy looked like a reject from a Fourth of July parade. In addition to his avant garde fashion choices, there was also something odd about his eyes. They were purple. Really purple. Like unnaturally purple. Katniss had seen that before and it could spell trouble.

"I think I need a drink first," Katniss said, eyeing the man behind the bar.

"Oh! Can you get me one too?" Delly asked, pulling out a five dollar bill. "I'd like a peach sunset."

Katniss nodded her head. "Sure, anyone else?"

"Coke," Gale said, adding his money to the pile.

"Just water," Made whispered, glancing down at her hands.

"Okay, one water, one coke, and a peach sunset. Got it." Katniss made her way to the bar and leaned on it, waiting for Caesar to notice her. It didn't take him long.

The brightly attired man looked her up and down, taking in her black ankle boots, blue jeans accented with a chunky belt, and Audrey Hepburn inspired striped shirt. "My my my, what have we here? You're new."

"And you're a morphling," she stated flatly.

The man's impossibly colored eyes widened. "Slayer."

Katniss smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. "In the flesh."

"Are we going to resort to fisticuffs?" the morphling murmured, glancing around the room.

"That all depends on you," Katniss told him. "You planning on scaring anyone to death?"

Caesar recoiled back, one hand over his supposed heart. "How gauche! I'll have you know my clan feeds on emotions and positive emotions are the most satisfying."

Katniss nodded her head, she knew that morphlings were empath demons. But what kind of emotions they fed on varied greatly from demon to demon. "What kind of proof can you give me?"

"Look around you, Slayer." He opened his arms expansively. "Why do you think I run a club? I get more than my fill every night! I've even had a witch I know put a little spell on the place to encourage people to take it outside," Caesar explained. "So, in the spirit of friendship, how about a lowly barkeep buys you, oh mighty Slayer, a drink?"

The explanation made sense and everything he said had the ring of truth to it. It also explained why no one was smoking inside the club; morphlings were highly flammable. "Make it a round for my friends and I'll consider it. But if I catch you harming a hair on even one human's head…" She drew a finger across her throat.

Caesar waved his hands. "Warning received. Now how about those drinks?"

Katniss gave him the order, adding in a raspberry lemonade for herself. She was careful not to indicate who was getting what drink, betting that he wouldn't want four of his patrons dropping dead. She might believe the morphling, but that didn't mean she trusted him.

A few minutes later she returned to Delly's table, a tray of drinks balanced carefully in her hands.

"I was worried you weren't going to make it back in time!" Delly greeted her when she got back. "You're next!"

Katniss eyed the girl currently up on stage singing something from Disney. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Gale said flatly. "If I have to sing, you have to sing."

"I take it you're not much of a singer?" she asked teasingly.

Gale grunted, "Seagulls sound better than me."

To Gale's left, Madge was nodding her head emphatically.

"Okay. New rule: Gale doesn't sing."

"That's right," the boy agreed. "Gale doesn't sing."

Taking a sip of her lemonade, Katniss steeled herself for her upcoming performance. "What should I sing?" she asked the group.

"I don't know," Gale answered. "Whatever speaks to you."

"Ooh, I can help you pick a song!" Delly said, wriggling out from Gale's arms. "Come on, it'll be fun. You too, Madge!"

"Great," the other girl said, making a face. "Can't I just stay here and drink my water?"

"No," Delly answered, her face oddly resolved. "See… here's my resolve-face. Come on."

"I'm coming. I'm coming," Madge sighed and slipped out of the booth.

The three girls walked up to the karaoke station and thumbed through the list of songs. "Definitely nothing too dark," Delly said, turning to look at Katniss. "How high do you think you can sing?"

"I don't know. I've never tried to find out," Katniss answered evasively. She knew she could sing, but it was something private for her family. She disliked being put on the spot like this and didn't feel comfortable sharing her gift with the rest of the world.

"What about this one?" Madge asked, pointing to a song.

"Old school. I like it," Delly said. "Katniss?"

"I think I know the lyrics," she agreed. "My dad likes this song for some reason. He played it all the time when it first came out."

"Then it's perfect!" Delly said, looking up. "And just in time! You're up!"

Walking up onstage, Katniss nodded at the boy who'd just finished singing, taking the microphone from his hands. She positioned herself so she could read the lyrics and took several steadying breaths.

 _"Turn around."_

A recorded male voice started the song.

Katniss picked up the lyrics.

 _"Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round."_

Throughout the club, as Katniss started to sing, people started turning and looking at her, their eyes wide in amazement. Katniss noticed and shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like singing in public. She always got reactions like this. She wished that she'd picked a slightly shorter song.

" _I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark,  
we're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks.  
I really need you tonight,  
forever's gonna start tonight.  
Forever's gonna start tonight."_

Every single eye in the club was on her… except for two. A handsome boy with sandy brown hair whispered in Madge's ear. The girl smiled, looking over her shoulder. The boy ran one sure hand up the slender girl's arm, whispering still more things to her.

Katniss narrowed her eyes. There was something off about him. Something not quite right. It could have been his shoes, what 90s teenage boy wore penny loafers with the actual penny in them? But considering Madge's clothing, for all she knew, it could be a Panem fad.

The boy whispered something more into Madge's ear and the girl nodded her head. Turning away from the stage, she followed him towards the exit.

There was nothing Katniss could do that wouldn't draw too much attention. So she continued the song, hoping that by the time she finished she wouldn't be too late.

" _Once upon a time there was light in my life,  
But now there's only love in the dark,  
Nothing I can say,  
A total eclipse of the heart."_

Thankfully the song was drawing to a close, only a few more repetitions of the words "Total eclipse of the heart" and Katniss could get out of there and follow after her new friend.

When the song finished, the Arena burst into a cacophony of applause, real applause, with people cheering and asking for an encore. Katniss smiled self-consciously and quickly made her way to the stairs to the stage.

The next performer, a dark-skinned girl about the same age as Katniss's sister, Prim, whispered, "You sure you don't want to sing again? I'd give up my turn just to hear you."

"Thanks, but no," Katniss told the girl. "I've gotta go stop a friend from making a horrible mistake."

"Kay," the girl said, stars in her eyes. "Come back soon!"

Katniss didn't say anything, her eyes intent on the exit. Behind her, she could hear Delly calling her name, but she didn't dare stop to answer. There were knots in her stomach, and she realized that they weren't from stage fright. Madge was in big trouble and only she could save her.

She pushed the doors of the Arena open, stepping into the gloomy alley. Swiveling her head, she tried to locate where Madge might have gone. By the club entrance, there were a couple of kids smoking.

"Did you see which way the two fashion rejects who just came out went?" she asked frantically.

A girl with blond hair in two loose braids shrugged. "Um, that way," she said, pointing down the alley away from the street Katniss had come in on.

"Uh, thanks." She eyed the two. "Um, you should stop smoking. Smoking's bad."

Not giving the teens time to respond, Katniss took off down the alley, hoping that she'd be able to find Madge in time. Reaching into the waistband of her pants, she pulled out a slim carefully carved shaft of wood.

A wooden stake.

From behind one of the dumpsters, she heard a female scream.

Madge!

Breaking into a run, Katniss sprinted to where she heard her friend's cry. The boy's back was to her and she was unable to see his face, but she could see Madge's. The girl was terrified, her eyes wide and her mouth open in an O of shock.

"Hey, dude, don't you know that poets shirts are so last season?"

"Go away," the boy growled, not bothering to turn around.

Katniss shook her head, her eyes never leaving the boy. "Nah, I think I'll stay right here and offer more fashion commentary."

"Leave," he growled out, turning to bare his fangs at the Slayer.

Vampire!

That was all the confirmation Katniss needed. Taking careful aim, Katniss hurled the stake at the demon's unprotected back. It struck true. The vampire stared at her in shock for a second before bursting into a cloud of dust.

Katniss ran forward. "Madge, Madge! Are you okay?"

"He… oh my God." Her eyes rolled back into her head. Katniss darted forward, catching her friend before she could fall to the ground.

"Crap," Katniss swore, looking around to see if anyone else had witnessed the vampire's demise.

She didn't see anyone. But that didn't mean that she was alone.

Behind her, she heard the unmistakable sound of someone clapping.

Carefully setting Madge on the ground, Katniss whirled to confront the interloper.

The man, a well-muscled stocky blond haired male, maybe a few inches taller than her and a few years older, walked into the light. He was pale but not unnaturally so, with a faint scar cutting through his left eyebrow. "That was some show. Incredible aim."

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice hard.

"A friend." The man smiled at her.

"I don't do friends."

The smiled widened. "I never said I was yours." He paused, his tone becoming more serious. "You need to be more careful."

"Really."

"Yeah. Reaping's coming soon," he continued, ignoring her sarcasm. "You're not ready."

"It would help if I knew what the Reaping was."

"Ask your Watcher."

She started. "What do you know about that?"

"I know a lot of things," he answered. "I know the effect you have on people. Like tonight in the club. You could be great, you know."

"I'd settle for not dead."

"Lofty goal."

"I say again, who the hell are you?" her tone didn't brook any argument.

"A fan." Once again he told her nothing. "I liked your song. Old-fashioned, but nice."

"What?" she stared at him, uncertain that she'd heard him right.

"Catch you later. Slayer." The blond man faded into the darkness, whistling the song she'd just sung, 'Total Eclipse of the Heart.'

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 6/3/15  
 **Revised:** 6/5/15

We're setting this in the same time period as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is the late 90s, early 2000s. The reason is for this is so many of Buffy's plots could be solved by the widespread use of cell phones, or more so, smartphones. The two of us lived through the late 90s, early 2000s, and we're old enough to remember them with clarity.

For the most part, this story is going to be in third person limited perspective with Katniss as our POV character. However, any scene that does not include Katniss or wouldn't make sense to have Katniss be the POV character (such as the one in the library) will be written from a strict third person limited perspective, like a camera was filming the scene. We realized partway through this chapter that trying to keep it strictly third person limited was going to cause this story to become unwieldy and boring as hell to read while changing POV with each scene was going to make the story super confusing. What makes exciting television does not make exciting reading and head-hopping is bad, y'all.

As we mentioned before, there are going to be some changes to Buffy canon and not everyone has a strict Hunger Games - Buffy counterpart. Katniss is still Katniss, with some Buffy flavoring. Mr. Everdeen and Haymitch are splitting the Giles role but will be taking on aspects of other Buffy characters. We didn't want to just rehash Buffy. That wouldn't be any fun. Expect more changes, but we're going to try to keep true to the Buffy flavor.

We hope you enjoyed.

Up Next: Part Three - Cheerleading and Slaying are Unmixy Things

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Ep1 - Cheerleading & Slaying Are Unmixy

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer** **  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth** **  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Three - Cheerleading and Slaying are Unmixy Things

 **oOo**

Katniss slept fitfully, her dreams haunted by mysterious strangers and not-strangers speaking to her cryptically. The visions kept whispering about the Reaping that the blond man had mentioned. The blond man haunted her dreams as well. But in a good way, a sexy John Stamos way, rather than creepy John Waters or John Carpenter ways.

Most disturbingly, Katniss's former watcher, Wiress, appeared in all of them. She kept looking at Katniss sadly and, in that almost childlike voice of hers, kept chanting, "Tick Tock, Tick Tock."

Unable to bear it anymore, Katniss cried out in her dream, "Tick Tock what?"

If anything, Wiress looked even more sad. "Big things are coming, little girl." She reached out and smoothed a wisp of hair away from Katniss's face. "Can't be all prim and proper. Gotta know your place. Gotta know your time." She paused, regarding her sadly. "Flowers can't be trusted. Lead you to places you shouldn't go. Trust your heart. Your heart knows what's true. You've got so much love inside you. If only…" she trailed off.

"If only what?"

Wiress straightened up cocking her head like a dog hearing an unusual sound. Rising to her feet, she chanted, "Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock." She backed away from the dreaming Slayer. "Be seeing you. Be seeing you, Katniss. Take care of yourself. Tick Tock!"

Katniss's eyes snapped open, taking in the sloped ceiling of her bedroom and the stack of boxes piled up in the corner. Rolling over, she muttered to herself, "I hate those things!"

 **oOo**

The next day at school was a special kind of hell reserved for socially awkward teenagers and Slayers attempting to avoid uncomfortable explanations. The kind of hell where you feel everyone's eyes watching you, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

Katniss thought she'd be safe in biology. But apparently she underestimated Madge's ability to speak coherently after a near vamp experience, because Gale kept staring at her intently. Any other time, or any other male, and Katniss would've suspected that the guy had a crush on her. But in Gale's case, that seemed unlikely. Turning towards the front of the class, she resolutely ignored the handsome boy.

As soon as the passing bell rang, Katniss was out of her seat like a shot. She needed to get to Miss Trinket before any uncomfortable questions were raised.

Putting on a miserable face that wasn't entirely faked, Katniss trudged up to the teacher's desk. "Miss Trinket, can I talk to you for a sec?"

The blonde woman with streaks of pink and orange in her hair looked up from her computer. "Katniss! Of course."

"Um, I… I think I'm gonna go down to the school nurse? I've got these, well, you know," she clutched at her stomach dramatically. "And I don't know what it was, maybe something in biology, but I just got this killer headache on top of it. I think I need to go to the nurse's office and lie down."

The teacher eyed her sympathetically. "Oh you poor dear. Yes, absolutely, take care of yourself. Don't worry about a thing." Miss Trinket's voice changed, becoming just a tiny bit harder. "You can always stop in after school sometime and catch up with what you missed. You don't want to get too far behind."

"No, of course not, Miss Trinket," Katniss managed to get out without groaning at the thought of having to muddle through computers after school. "I'll be going now."

Katniss took off, noting that both Madge and Delly had entered the classroom and were waving at her. She waved back at them before darting out the door and down the hall.

Yes, she'd definitely made the right call. No questions were good questions.

But instead of going to the nurse's office like she'd told Miss Trinket, Katniss slipped into the library. A cursory glance told her that no other students were visible and that her father was seated behind the counter, his nose in a book.

"We've got a problem, Dad," she said without any preamble.

Placing a bookmark between the pages and closing the book, her father looked up at her. "What kind of a problem?"

"The truth is out there kind of problem," she replied, referencing the X-Files.

"Are they Mulders or Scullys?" her father asked, concerned.

"Mulders. Definitely Mulders."

"That's a problem."

Katniss sighed. "Tell me about it. And what's worse, I've been having dreams."

"Dreams? You know, like we need to have a talk dreams or," his voice lowered and became more serious, "we need to have a talk dreams?"

"The second. And the first…" she admitted with a light blush. "But mostly the second."

Mr. Everdeen let out a little sigh of relief. "That I can deal with. So lay it on me."

"I saw Wiress, Dad," Katniss started, sadness coloring her tone. "She kept saying Tick Tock, Tick Tock."

"Did she give any indication as to why?" her dad asked gently.

She shrugged. "I'm guessing cause time's running out?"

"Time to what?"

"Don't know. I'm guessing it has something to do with the Reaping."

"Reaping?" Her father asked. "What's the Reaping?"

"I don't know. Aren't you supposed to be all with the books and smart like that?" She twirled the tip of her long braid around her finger.

Her father sighed. "Don't do that, Katniss. You and I both know you're more intelligent than you like to let on."

The Slayer laughed, dropping the Valley Girl act. "But it's always so much more fun to see people's faces when they realize that you know the meaning of defenestrate and that it doesn't mean cutting off a penis."

"Katniss."

"Yes, Daddy?"

"The dream." He rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Right." Her tone turned serious. "So the rest of the dream was the typical cryptic crap and I couldn't really make heads or tails of it."

"I suppose I can see what the books say, but really you should be talking to Haymitch about this," he told her.

She shrugged, accepting the admonition. "Yeah, but he has class."

"Yes. Speaking of, why aren't you in class, young lady?"

"Madge," she answered succinctly. "I don't feel like answering questions about, you know. So I figured it was best to duck out for a day or two."

"Right, good plan. If you need an excuse, let me know, I'll be happy to provide."

"Nah, I'm going with the old standby of cramps and a headache."

"Well, I suppose that'll do." He shifted uncomfortably. "Let me know if more avoidance is necessary."

"I think I got it handled," she assured her father. "A few days of giving them the slip and I'm sure they'll get the message that Katniss doesn't want to talk about it."

 **oOo**

"So tell me again, sweetheart, just what did that weird guy say?"

Katniss sighed and looked at her father and Haymitch. "Well, first he complimented me on my aim, which, dude, coming up from behind somebody while clapping? Totally creepy. Then there was typical back and forth, blah blah blah, who are you, blah blah blah, cryptic answers. Then he said that I'm not ready and I asked about what, and he came back with 'the Reaping.' Then he started talking about, I don't know, creepy stuff, and then he continued the whole creepy stalker vibe by complimenting me on the song I'd just sung, which let me tell you, so not doing that again, then he called me Slayer and disappeared."

"Do you mean disappeared disappeared like a spell or melted back into the shadows?" Mr. Everdeen asked with interest.

She pointed at her father. "The second one."

He sighed in disappointment. "So probably not a witch."

"Yeah. No pointy hats or brooms to be seen on Mr. Cryptic."

"Then what happened, sweetheart?"

Katniss shot a look at her Watcher. "Then I had to carry Madge back into the Arena and bypass the whole hey my new friend was almost eaten by a vampire line of questioning from Delly and Gale." She turned back to her father. "Did you know that the owner of the Arena is a morphling?"

"What's a morphling?" a bright female voice asked from behind them.

The three turned to see Gale, Delly, and Madge standing at the door to the library.

"Um, it's a drug. A kind of drug that makes people really… friendly. Like morphine! Morphine, morphling?" Haymitch covered quickly.

"I was almost eaten by a vampire?" Madge followed up, ignoring Haymitch's explanation entirely.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," Katniss said.

"What's a Slayer?" Gale asked next.

Katniss winced. "You weren't supposed to hear that either."

"Yeah, well, too bad, we did. So spill," Gale stated flatly.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea, children," Mr. Everdeen stepped in.

"Why not?" Gale glared at the librarian. "And how come she can hear it?"

Mr. Everdeen struggled for an answer. "That's… complicated."

"Are you okay, Katniss?" Delly asked, her voice full of concern. "Does this have to do with you skipping class earlier. Is this an intervention?"

"It's not an intervention, Delly," Katniss said with a sigh.

"Well good! And even if it was, we could help, right? We're friends!" Delly's eyes seemed so earnest.

Katniss hated having to crush her, but she knew her duty. Slayers worked alone, family and friends were to be kept in the dark. It was safer that way. "Uh yeah, no, I don't think so."

"You know I heard you talking yesterday. About vampires, and they called you the Slayer? And I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean you're a member of the band," Gale said.

"Yeah, not enough tattoos or facial hair for the band," Delly put in.

The three shared a look, trying desperately to come up with an explanation.

"You know, we could try telling them the truth," Haymitch said, rubbing at his face.

"The Council recommends against it," Mr. Everdeen pointed out.

"And you're going to do everything the Council tells you to?" Haymitch asked pointedly.

Mr. Everdeen flinched and didn't respond.

"Go on, sweetheart. Tell your friends the truth." He turned to the three teens. "But fair warning, you break my girl's heart and what happens next will make lap day look like a pleasant memory."

"Can you do the intro?" Katniss asked her father. "It sounds so much better coming from you. It's the voice."

Mr. Everdeen sighed, cleared his throat, and his speech took on a more narrator tone. "Into every generation, a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world; a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer." He rubbed the bridge of his nose again. "Happy?"

Katniss nodded. "Thanks, Dad. It's a little inaccurate, but it hits the high points."

The three teens stared at her blankly.

"So! Questions?" Haymitch asked with a belch.

Madge slowly raised her hand. "Yeah. Is this for real?"

 **oOo**

The mansion on the outskirts of town didn't look haunted, but everyone in Panem knew that it was. Many kids would dare their friends to sneak up the weathered concrete path and knock at the door. Most of the time, no one answered.

But rumor had it that one time, someone had.

The mansion was owned by the Snow family, a well-known and well-regarded name in Panem. But there hadn't been any Snows in town since before the turn of the century, around the same time that the current mayor's great-great-grandmother, Eleanor Coin, first took office. If the Snows were the first family and founders of Panem, then the Coins were its most prestigious. Naturally, history had it, they hated each other.

But history was the furthest thing in mind for a young couple standing at the walkway leading to the mansion.

"I don't want to go up there," the girl said, her lightly freckled nose wrinkling. "Let's go someplace… lighter. Like the Arena!"

"The Arena's for babies," a young man wearing a varsity jacket from Panem High scoffed.

"Well, I hear this place is haunted," the girl pouted. "I don't like ghosts. They're scary."

The teenager slipped his arm around the girl. "Don't worry, Clove. I'll keep you safe."

"I just don't know why you brought up this place when I suggested we go someplace romantic," Clove grumbled against his chest.

"You said you wanted to see the place that has the best roses in Panem. This place is it. Just look at those rose bushes." He motioned to the poorly maintained mansion's facade. "The house may be falling apart, but someone's been taking care of these roses. Come on, let's go inside. Let's see if old Mr. Snow's feathered bed is in as good condition as his rose garden."

"Okay…"

The two carefully tiptoed up the walkway, alert for any problems. The boy reached out and picked a large white rose, handing it with flair to Clove. "For you, my lady."

"Why thank you, good sir." She tucked the rose behind one ear. "Should we knock?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "No one lives here. Unless you're afraid of disturbing the dead."

"It's not the dead I'm worried about."

"Then you have nothing to worry about." He grinned at her. He opened the door and stepped inside. He looked around, noting the dust and cobweb filled interior. "Come on." He motioned to his date.

Clove followed him inside, her eyes no longer playful, but instead predatory. When her date reached the center of the room, she carefully shut the door behind her.

From out of the shadows cast by the grand staircase a husky mountain of a man with broad shoulders appeared. "I see you've brought dinner."

"I thought Master Snow could use a snack," she replied.

The boy whirled, his eyes widening when he saw his date. The vampire's human mask had slid away, revealing the demon underneath.

"What did you expect, Ford?" Clove asked mockingly. "I expect better manners from my dates. Barging into someone's house uninvited. I guess you'll just have to pay the penalty."

"But no one has lived here in over a century!"

"Well, you're half right. There's nobody alive here." Her yellow eyes gleamed. "Except you."

The boy panicked, trying to run, but the front door was blocked by Clove and the hallway on the other side was unreachable because of the hulking blond man. The obvious escape route was the stairs, which any 90s kid with a smidgen of horror movie knowledge knew was a no-go. That only left the large French double doors leading out to a walled garden.

He dashed to the doors, pulling them open, moderately surprised that they were unlocked, and fled into the garden. There he paused for a quick moment to get a feel for his surroundings. The brick walls were over seven feet tall and topped with sharp wrought iron stakes, too high and too dangerous to attempt to scale. There wasn't a gate or door in view. But the garden continued past the side of the house and around back. He followed the path.

Rounding the edge of the house, he noticed an immaculately dressed, if a tad old-fashioned looking, elderly man kneeling by one of the rose bushes. "Help," he cried. "You gotta help me!"

The old man flowed to his feet. "What seems to be the matter, dear boy?" The old man's reptilian green eyes glittered in the darkness.

Ford motioned frantically to the mansion. "There are these freaks inside! Some weird-ass demon chick and a freaky blond dude!"

"I don't believe it's polite to refer to your betters as freaks."

"What?" The teenager gaped at the old man.

"Is he disturbing you, Master?" Clove asked from behind her date.

"No, my dear child. We were just having a pleasant conversation."

Stumbling away from the man, Ford cried, "You guys are freaks!"

The old man's eyes became hard and his voice deadly. "I believe I asked you to not refer to us by that term."

"What the hell is wrong with you freaks?" Ford continued, clearly not hearing the warning. "What are you?"

"Out of patience." The old man's face morphed as he lunged forward, ripping the teen's throat out, splattering blood all over the garden. The old man drank the spurting red liquid down greedily. When he'd had his fill, he took a step back, letting the body fall to the ground with a thump. Pulling out a handkerchief, he dabbed at his mouth and chin. "Thank you for the snack, my dear. Apparently, I was feeling quite peckish."

Clove curtseyed gracefully. "My pleasure, Master." She toed the dead boy's body with disgust. "What should we do with the trash?"

"Bury him out front, underneath the pink tea rose," her master instructed. "You know the one. It's been drooping lately. I'm sure it will feel better after it has some fertilizer."

"Of course, Master."

"Oh, and send Cato to me."

The hulking vampire materialized out of the darkness. "I am here, Grandfather."

"Cato, my beloved childe," Snow greeted, motioning for the younger vampire to come over. Cato quickly obeyed, dropping to his knees in obeisance. "How go our plans for the Reaping?"

Bowing his head, Cato replied, "On the night of the seventh moon, you shall once again walk free."

"Yes, yes, yes," Snow said, waving a hand. "I've heard that before. I like particulars. Specifics."

"Clove and I have chosen a location which would suit our needs perfectly. There's one minor obstacle, but I'm working on it."

"Good. And my army?"

"Ready to move when you give the word."

"Excellent," he praised his grandson. "Although I'm still a bit concerned about numbers. You know what Sun Tzu always said: he will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. But I've always preferred to have superior forces."

Cato banged his fist against his chest in an ancient salute. "By your command, Grandfather."

 **oOo**

Katniss walked home from cheerleading tryouts, completely unaware of her surroundings, her attention focused on the events of that afternoon. She'd known that Cressida and her cronies disliked Delly and were jealous of the girl, but she hadn't realized the depth of their disdain. The poor girl was humiliated repeatedly by the clique and they forced her to do things no teenage cheerleader had any business attempting.

Delly, being Delly, tried her best, but no one can do a roundoff back handspring combo without practice.

Katniss was just glad Haymitch put a stop to the bullying before Delly got seriously injured. The girl had a sprained wrist from when she fell attempting an impossible stunt, but it would heal.

Unfortunately for the blond girl, the bullies used her injury as an excuse to keep her off the team. Katniss almost rejected their offer in solidarity, but Delly stopped her. "I'm glad at least one of us got on the team," she said, smiling brightly.

Katniss looked at her and then at Cressida's group. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! It's not like I don't have other things I can do. Besides, it'll be a nice break from…" she looked around furtively, then whispered, "you know what."

"Yeah, yeah it will be," Katniss agreed. It's why she'd wanted to go out for cheerleading in the first place, to get away from slaying. She just hoped there wasn't a repeat of Hemery High's championship basketball game. That would be awkward.

"You don't have time for this," a male voice said, startling Katniss out of her thoughts.

"Who said that?" Katniss demanded, instantly on the defensive.

The same blond man from the Arena two nights ago stepped into the light. "I said, you don't have time for this. You're the Slayer, not some cheerleader."

"I can do both," she snapped.

"No. You can't," the man said, shaking his head. "It's a distraction, and if this little bit of teenage drama can distract you so much that you don't even notice when somebody's following you and you pass your house, it's too much of a distraction."

Katniss's eyes widened. "How do you know where I live?"

As she half expected, the cryptic man sidestepped her question. "It's not me you have to worry about. I won't do anything to hurt you, Katniss. But it won't be me who you'll face at the Reaping."

"There's that term again," she sighed, exasperated with the whole mysterious helpful stranger act. "What's the Reaping?"

"You'll find out on Friday."

"What happens Friday?"

"You'll see." He melted back into the shadows.

"Great. I'm getting more cryptic advice from creepy hot dudes," she muttered under her breath.

"Katniss? That you?" her sister Primrose's voice asked from the front door.

Looking away from where her mysterious fan had disappeared, Katniss turned to see her sister. "Yeah, it's me, Little Duck."

Prim frowned, taking a step out onto the front porch, heedless of the fact that she was wearing her Kermit pajamas. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Go back inside. You know how Mom and Dad feel when you're out after dark."

"I'm fourteen, I'm not a baby anymore! I'm only a year younger than you!"

"You're still my little sister," Katniss said, coming up beside her and placing a protective arm around the younger girl. "Come on, you can help me practice my cheers."

 **oOo**

The following day during lunch, Katniss entered the library with Haymitch. "So what's the word, Daddy-o?"

Mr. Everdeen rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Please don't call me that."

"Fine. Dad," she said, stressing the word, "what have you found out?"

"Unfortunately, very little." He sighed. "There seem to be several events that go by that moniker. And depending on the translation, the Reaping could mean anything from a harvest to mass slaughter."

"Pretty sure you can bet on the last one there, Rick."

Mr. Everdeen glared at the blond Watcher. "Yes, but the ancients were known for their unique descriptors and one really can't rule out one definition because it doesn't fit one's preconception."

The two men locked eyes for a moment, clearly having a minor battle of wills.

Haymitch, ultimately, was the one who looked away. "Multiple meanings it is. So anything look promising based on the date?"

Mr. Everdeen shook his head. "No, there's the usual gloom and doom associated with autumn. There's the feast of St. Titus coming up, but I doubt that's the Reaping, since I haven't heard any word of the Sisterhood of the Jhe making an appearance in Panem."

"Would we?" Katniss asked.

"Oh yes," her father told her, warming to the subject. "They don't conceal their presence. They celebrate their kills openly by consuming the flesh of their defeated foes, and the feast of St. Titus is one of their most sacred holidays."

"Right. So no cannibal women. Got it."

"Hey Katniss!" Delly said, sticking her head in. "You doing anything for lunch?"

"No, not really," Katniss answered, looking at the stack of books spread out on the various tables and counters. "I've got stuff to do here."

"Can we help?" Delly asked, stepping into the room along with Gale and Madge. "I'm really good with the books, you know. So's Madge."

"I'm not," Gale said.

Delly whirled on her boyfriend. "Yes you are! You're just saying that!"

The tall boy sighed. "Fine. I'll help too."

"Can you read Ancient Sumerian?" Mr. Everdeen asked.

Gale gave him a look. "No…"

"Hieroglyphics?"

"No."

"Cuneiform?"

"Try asking us a language that hasn't been dead for thousands of years," Gale snapped, clearly fed up with the whole process.

Mr. Everdeen rubbed the bridge of his nose again. "I don't suppose any of you know Hebrew."

"Ooh, me!" Madge exclaimed, holding up a hand. "My dad sent me to Hebrew School for nine years."

"Then you can go check out that stack." He pointed to one table.

"I can read Latin," Delly offered.

"You can?" Gale asked, looking at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I kinda taught myself," she answered, blushing a little. "I wanted to read Ovid's poetry in the original."

"That's my brainy girl," Gale said, kissing Delly's forehead. "I guess that leaves me to go pick up pizza. Unless you need someone to figure out the azimuth or angle of approach for something, I'm pretty much gonna be snack guy."

"A very important role," Madge said encouragingly.

"Any requests?" Gale asked the room.

"Nah, I'm good," Haymitch said. "Havin' a liquid lunch." He held up his flask.

"Anyone else?"

"Anything's fine," Katniss said. "Food's food."

"Olives and anchovies it is," Gale decided, a teasing tone in his voice.

She shrugged. "Okay."

Gale pouted for a bit. "You're no fun."

Katniss just shrugged again.

With Gale getting lunch, the rest of the group sat down to work. Katniss started looking at town maps with a ley line guide next to her while the rest of the group delved into the books.

"Knock knock!"

Everyone looked up to see the computer teacher, Effie Trinket, standing in the library foyer.

She glanced around at the research chaos with wide eyes. "Um, am I interrupting anything?"

"Kinda, princess," Haymitch told her, leaning back on the legs of his chair. "What d'you want?"

"I was looking for Katniss here," she answered, turning to meet the Slayer's eyes. "I need to steal you for a bit."

"To do what?" Katniss asked.

"Oh, nothing bad," Miss Trinket answered quickly. "Just want to make sure that you're all caught up. You are quite behind, you know. And we wouldn't want your grades to suffer."

Knowing that she couldn't escape this time, Katniss got up out of her seat. "No, we wouldn't want that. How long do you think this will take?"

"What are you doing after school?" the woman asked seriously.

Katniss groaned.

 **oOo**

The sun was setting when Katniss reentered the library. "You guys are still here?" she asked, noting that the research chaos had morphed into a research disaster.

"Yeah," Madge answered, morosely. "And we're out of pizza."

"Did you find anything?" the Slayer asked, hoping that the search was over.

"Define anything," Gale picked up the conversation. "There's a ton of crap on various random events with titles like the Reaping and the Gathering and the Harvest and the Culling. It's a little surprising how many farm metaphors there are in magic."

Her heart sinking, Katniss asked, "But we're making progress, right?"

"There's a few promising options," her father said. "It would help if we knew just when this Reaping was going to occur."

"Um, I'm guessing soon?" Katniss asked. "Oh yeah, that mysterious hot guy! He said Friday. Try Friday."

"That would've helped if you'd told us earlier," Haymitch grumbled.

"Sorry," Katniss apologized. "I get forgetful when I'm hungry."

"Oh, that's right! You didn't eat lunch! What happened to that pizza you got her?" Delly asked Gale.

"Coach Abernathy ate it," Gale stated.

Katniss glared at her Watcher. "Haymitch…"

"What?" He looked over at her innocently. "I was hungry and it was getting cold."

Katniss sighed. "Anybody have a granola bar?"

"Ooh, I've got an idea!" Delly exclaimed, clapping her hands happily. "Mellark's should be open now. I'll run there and pick up something." Madge and Gale straightened up, looking more alive. But Katniss was just confused. It must have showed on her face, because Delly continued, "They've got cheese buns to die for, and they've got these special kinds of bread that are stuffed with all sorts of interesting things, like curry or chocolate or even lamb stew!"

The thought of lamb stew decided Katniss. "Sounds delicious. I'll take twelve."

"Really?" Delly asked, her eyes wide.

Katniss shook her head. "No, no, more like three of the lamb stew."

The cheerful girl turned to the rest of the group. "Anyone else want anything?"

"You know what I like, babe," Gale answered.

"One slice of cheesecake it is."

"Um, can you see if they have those funny shaped donuts?" Madge asked.

"Crullers?"

"Yeah. One of those."

"Anyone else?" Delly looked at Mr. Everdeen and Haymitch.

Haymitch smirked at Katniss. "I'll eat whatever frownyface here doesn't."

Katniss glared back. "Make that four," she told the girl. "Dad?"

"Um, add two more." He held out a twenty. "That should cover me and Katniss."

Haymitch fished out another twenty. "And that should cover me for lunch too."

"I'll be back in a jiff," Delly said, taking the money. "Well, maybe not a jiff. It depends on if there's a line."

"Come back soon," Gale said. "You know I'm no good without you."

 **oOo**

Mellark's was a cheerful business located on Panem's main street. When the shop opened every day at five, there was often a line of people queueing down the street to get first dibs at the bakery's offerings.

It was an unusual shop, with only a few tables for patrons. Most of the store was taken up by a huge counter and several shelves stocked with baked goods.

Another unique thing about Mellark's was the exquisite artwork which decorated the bakery's walls. It spanned the generations, ranging from baroque to impressionism to art nouveau and even modern. All of the paintings were unsigned, which was a bit unusual. That didn't stop some people from trying to acquire them, but when asked the owner would state that they weren't for sale.

Also, unlike most bakeries, it wasn't open during the day. The shop opened at five in the evening and closed at seven in the morning. The cops loved it, as did UC Panem's student population. The rest of the town scratched their heads in confusion, but didn't ask too many questions because no one wanted to lose the tasty cheese bun goodness.

The shop's regular staff was small. An old woman and her adult granddaughter with Down syndrome made up the core of the regular staff. The owner was rarely seen by most customers. But he made an appearance sometimes when they were especially short staffed. Many regulars, especially young women, thought that was a bit of a shame since he was considered by many to be quite good-looking, if young to own such a profitable business. There was also a rotating group of part-time workers, mostly made up of college and high school students, who rounded out the rest of the staff.

By the time Delly got there, the first run was mostly over, although there was still a bit of a wait to get to the counter. For once, the owner of the shop, Peeta Mellark, was manning the counter. He was wearing a tight white t-shirt which clung to his arms and chest, showing off his muscles. His dark blond hair was brushed a bit haphazardly, falling into his eyes, but not totally obscuring them or the scar that crossed his left eyebrow.

"Hey, Mr. Mellark!" the girl greeted when it was her turn in line.

The man smiled warmly at her. "Hi, Delly."

She beamed at him for remembering her name. "How's business going?"

"Busy," he answered. "Had to hire another person to help out. A classmate of yours, Thresh Osbourne."

"Oh Thresh! I know Thresh. He's nice." She handed Peeta the list of what everybody wanted.

He eyed it, whistling at the contents. "So what's going on tonight? Why the big order?"

"Oh, me and a bunch of friends are hanging out at the school library, studying," she answered brightly.

"Studying what?" The man's eyes narrowed slightly, although his smile never faded.

"More like what aren't we studying?" Delly deflected. "But anyways, we were just hungry, and your cheese buns are the best."

"Thanks. It's an old family recipe." Peeta finished the order by slipping a painted iced cookie into the bag when Delly wasn't looking. The blond haired girl waved cheerfully as she left the shop.

Peeta waved back, but as soon as she left, the man removed his apron and headed for the back room, a determined expression on his face.

The sun had fully set as Delly approached the high school. Delly walked quickly, the previously safe streets of Panem suddenly seeming a lot more ominous now that she knew about the unseen dangers that lurked there. The front doors of the school were a welcome sight.

But they were quickly blocked by a hulking blond man with a cruel face. "Hello, little girl. Isn't it past good girls like you's bedtime?"

"My friends are waiting for me," she said to the mountain of a man, trying to sidestep him.

"They're going to have to keep waiting," he replied, grabbing her forcefully and pulling her to him, covering her mouth with one big hand.

The bag of baked goods she held fell to the ground, spilling its contents all over the sidewalk.

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 6/5/15  
 **Revised:** 6/8/15

As a note: Katniss in this universe is not exactly the same as Katniss in canon. She hasn't gone through her father's death or her mother's abandonment, she's never starved, and she hasn't had the Hunger Games hanging over her head… until now. Being a Slayer is the Hunger Games for her. Yes, she's lost her Watcher, but it doesn't have the same impact. So she's going to get a bit more of Buffy due to the differing circumstances.

We hope you enjoyed.

Up Next: Part Four - Revelations

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Ep1 - Revelations

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer** **  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth** **  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Four - Revelations

 **oOo**

Katniss looked up from the map of Panem, her stomach growling. "Where's Delly?" She was about ready to gnaw her arm off and it felt like the girl'd been gone for ages.

Looking up from his book on ritual synonyms, Gale glanced at his watch. "Even if Mellark's is super busy, she should be back by now." Closing his book, he stood up. "I'll go look for her."

Katniss narrowed her eyes, glancing out the library window. "No. It's dark out. And my stomach's doing the rumblies and not just in the I want to eat my left foot kind of way. I should be the one to go look for her."

"I'm going with you." Gale closed his book with an audible thump.

"No, you're not," Katniss stated, standing up.

Gale copied her. "Yes, I am. Delly's my girlfriend," he said like it explained everything.

"And I'm the Slayer," Katniss said, emphasizing the last word. "You'd just be in the way."

Gale clenched his fist, opening his mouth to say something.

Haymitch didn't let him. "Listen to frownyface, boy. None of you's ready to take on even a fledgling vampire." He took a sip from his ever present flask. "Best to keep you out of the line of fire."

"Then train me," Gale said, his voice hard.

"Well, you're good with a bow, I'll give you that, what with winning the state championship last year," he said, saluting Gale with his flask. "And your hand-eye coordination ain't that bad." He shrugs. "What the hell, it'll give frownyface here someone to spar against other than me. Can't say I was lookin' forward to all them bruises."

Katniss took a step forward. "You two can work out the details later. My stomach's really doing the rumbly thing."

"You sure that ain't hunger, sweetheart?"

"No. It's not hunger," she said, shaking her head. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Haymitch turned to Mr. Everdeen. "You showed her Star Wars?"

"What can I say? The force is strong in this one," Mr. Everdeen replied with a smirk.

Haymitch groaned, covering his face with his hand. "I'm too old for this crap."

"Don't worry, Obi-Wan. I'll be back before you know it." Katniss grabbed a few stakes and a small silver dagger and stashed them in various places in her clothes. "Wish me luck!"

When she got outside, she started scanning the area. She knew from the map of Panem the general direction of Mellark's and started heading that way. She didn't make it that far.

Less than fifty feet from the school entrance, Katniss discovered the dropped bag of baked goods. She reached down and picked up one of the meat pies and broke it open. It was still faintly warm. Delly had to have been taken recently.

Narrowing her eyes, she opened up her senses, trying to catch any hint of where Delly might have gone. No fresh tire tracks meant it was unlikely she was taken by car. Besides, she smelled something else. Something floral.

Roses.

It was faint, but it was there.

She started heading west, following the scent. She passed through the main town, noting that Mellark's was still open and that there was a muscular dark-skinned young man working at the counter. She popped her head in. "Hey, you go to Panem, right?"

"Yeah," the boy answered, looking up from the cash register.

"Did Delly Cartwright come in here a little while ago?"

The boy shook his head. "Musta been when the boss was covering my break."

"Is the boss here?"

"Nah, he's out."

Katniss frowned. It would've been easier if she'd been able to ask the boss if he'd seen anybody following Delly or exactly when the girl had left. Just more bad luck.

Continuing to follow where her intuition guided her, she kept heading west until she was on the other side of town. The houses improved in both size and value the closer she got to the ocean. She felt a pull from the west, like something or someone was calling out to her. She hoped it was her Slayer's intuition and not something more sinister.

As she walked, she kept scanning the area, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. A few houses from the coast, she felt a little tingle run up the back of her neck. Someone's eyes were on her, watching her.

Carefully, so as not to arouse suspicion in who or what was behind her, she paused at one of the houses and made a motion to pull something out of her pocket, like she was checking an address. She glanced to her right, trying to act nonchalant.

"You know you're a crap actress."

She turned to her right to see the same mysterious blond man leaning up against one of the Victorian lampposts lining the street. "You!"

"Me."

"Were you following me?"

He smirked at her. "Would I do that?"

"Yes."

"You're right, I would." He pushed himself off of the lamppost. "You don't want to go that way," he told her, motioning toward the west.

"Why not?"

"You're not ready."

"Oh, 'cause that is so helpful!" Katniss exclaimed, exasperated. "Can you be a little more cryptic?"

"Rosebud?"

"It was his sled."

"Movie buff."

"You're one to talk," she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Look. My friend's gone missing. I just… I can't go back."

"You've got to go back." There was something in his voice, something pleading.

"Why?"

"If you go any further, you'll die," he told her.

"How do you know that?"

"I know."

Katniss had had enough. "Will you stop with the whole Mister Mysterious thing, Mr. Cryptic?"

"I prefer Peeta to Mr. Cryptic," he told her.

"Fine. Will you stop with the whole Mister Mysterious thing, Peeta?"

"Do you promise to go home?"

"No."

"Then I'm not gonna stop being mysterious."

"Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air, taking a step forward. "What is wrong with you?"

"That's a very long story." He pulled something out of his pocket. "Here. You'll need this." He tossed it at her.

Katniss caught the box out of reflex. "What is this?"

"Open it up and see."

Shooting him an annoyed glare, she opened it up. Inside was a simple silver crucifix with a single black pearl mounted at the center of the cross. "It's beautiful," she said without thinking.

"Matches its owner."

"I can't accept this." Katniss shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks. It's a nice gift and all, but… I don't need your help." She held the box out to him.

The man refused to take it. "Yes. You do."

"I'm not going back," she said stubbornly.

Peeta sighed, straightening up. "Then I'm coming with you."

The Slayer's eyes narrowed. "You'll be in my way."

"I think you'll find that I'm not the typical Panem resident," he told her, smiling a bit self-consciously.

"I don't want your help."

"Too bad. You've got it." He looked over at her. "We're a team, right?"

Katniss groaned. "Fine. But stay out of my way."

"You gonna put that on?" Peeta motioned to the box and the crucifix within.

"Will it get you off my back?"

"I won't bug you about that anymore."

"Then yeah, I'll wear it. Help me put it on." She thrust the necklace at him, pulling her long braid out of the way so he could fasten it around her neck.

His eyes widened and he took hold of the chain gingerly. "Turn around." His voice sounding a bit strained.

She did as he requested. She felt him come up behind her, slipping the necklace around her neck, his fingers lightly caressing the wisps of hair around her neckline. She shivered.

"Sorry, my hands are cold," Peeta apologized. "I'm a little nervous."

"Sounds like you haven't helped a girl with her jewelry before," she flirted. Oh my God, she was flirting with him. Why was she flirting with him? Bad Slayer! No biscuit!

He snorted slightly. "Not like this." He fiddled a little bit behind her. "There. I think it's good."

She gave the chain an experimental tug, it was secure. Getting ahold of herself, she got back to the business at hand. "So… I think we need to go that way." Katniss motioned vaguely toward the west. "You got any suggestions, Mr. Cryptic?"

Peeta sighed. "I thought I asked you not to call me that."

"And I thought I asked you to stop being so mysterious. Looks like neither of us gets what we want," she told him. "Come on, stop looking at me like I kicked your puppy and let's go."

The two continued walking, Katniss glancing out of the corner of her eye at the blond man. He was good looking, but not in the drop dead gorgeous Gale Hawthorne kind of way. His shoulders were broad and the dark leather jacket he wore did nothing to hide the muscles in his arm. She wondered how he got them. Did he work out? He didn't seem the type. She shook her head to clear it. First find Delly, then lust over the mysterious dude who smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Glancing at her surroundings, she noted that the row of houses gave way to a large gothic cemetery. "What the hell's a cemetery doing out here in prime real estate?"

"Come on, Katniss, don't you know the dead deserve a view as much as the living?" His tone was light, teasing.

"Yeah, but… who'd want to have their house next to a creepy old cemetery?"

"I don't know, in Victorian times they found it quaint," Peeta told her.

"Like history much?"

"You could say I have a passing interest in history." There was something in his tone. An emotion she just couldn't place.

She looked at him oddly. "So… you stalk women often?"

Peeta laughed. "No."

"So it's just me."

"It's really just you." He regarded her seriously. "It's always been you."

"And that's not creepy."

"Sorry," he apologized, taking a deep breath. "I'm not really used to this."

"Used to what?"

Peeta didn't answer, his eyes widening as he looked past her into the cemetery. "Heads up!"

Katniss whirled to follow his gaze and saw five youths approaching. The rumbling in her stomach got worse and she knew it wasn't hunger pains. She knew and hated that feeling.

"I'm so glad to see you out here!" the leader, a young woman with dark hair and freckles across her nose about Katniss's height called out.

"Yeah, cause it's totally not all suspicious-like for five people to be wandering out in a cemetery at night!" Katniss called back, slipping into a defensive stance.

The leader smirked at her. "Looks like the jig's up." The five youths' faces morphed into vamp face.

"I hope you're as good in a fight as you seem to think you are," Katniss muttered to Peeta.

Peeta pulled out a stake from the waistband of his pants. "I hope so too."

And then the group was upon them.

Three of the vampires surrounded Katniss, two males and a slender dangerous looking female, while the leader and another male vampire flanked Peeta.

Katniss was going to have to trust that her unwanted partner would be able to handle his opponents on his own. She was going to have her hands full with hers.

The dance began.

Katniss pulled out a stake from her waistband and hurled it at the nearest vampire, a dark-haired Hispanic-looking male. It struck true.

One fledgling down, two to go.

However, she only had two more stakes and she didn't want to waste them. Wishing that it wouldn't look weird to carry a bow everywhere, Katniss waded into the fray. Maybe she should go out for the archery team so she had an excuse to carry one with her, she thought to herself, striking out with one leg toward the female's knee. The woman danced back out of reach, but that was what Katniss wanted.

It opened her up so that she could close quarters with the vampire she perceived as the next biggest threat, a well-muscled linebacker type This vampire was slower than her, but strong. He lunged for her and Katniss was forced to roll out of the way.

She sprang to her feet to see both vampires converging on her at once. "Oh you're not gonna follow the villain cliche and wait your turn? I guess we'll have to do something about that." She pulled out her other stake so she was now holding a stake in each hand and dashed forward. Whirling around the female, she slammed the stake in her left hand down through the woman's ribcage, piercing her heart. Not bothering to watch the woman crumble into dust, she turned to take on the last remaining vampire.

The male whipped out with one arm, catching her on the cheek. Katniss reeled back, spitting blood. "Dude! Don't you know it's rude to hit a lady in the face?"

"I'll do more than hit!" he hissed, baring his fangs at her.

"Sounds like someone needs to have some anger management training," she quipped, remembering Wiress's advice that insults and jokes could sometimes cause your opponent to lower their guard.

It worked. "What?" the male asked, pausing mid-charge.

Unable to keep the pleased smile that her gambit had worked off of her face, Katniss stepped gracefully to one side, her right arm slashing out, plunging the stake into his heart. The vampire looked down in shock and Katniss reached out, snatching the stake back. "Wouldn't want to lose this one, it's my favorite."

The vampire looked at her in confusion before his body dissolved, floating away in the wind.

Katniss took a deep breath and turned to see how Peeta was doing. The blond man had somewhere along the line managed to dispatch the other male vampire and was now engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the leader.

The two were good, almost evenly matched. Except something seemed off.

Katniss narrowed her eyes, trying to place it. When she did, she was unable to stop herself from gasping.

Peeta was holding back for some reason.

The vampire must have noticed it too because she said, "Awww, poor Peeta, can't bring yourself to go all out against me, can you?" She smirked. "What's wrong, lover boy? Can't get it up?" The vampire struck out with a switchblade, slicing into Peeta's right thigh.

Peeta cried out, clutching at his leg. Slashing out with his free hand, he knocked the knife out of the vampire's hands. "Leave, Clove. I don't want to hurt you," Peeta hissed back in a low tone. One hand lashed out, swiping at the vampire's neck.

The woman blocked it easily, like she was familiar with his fighting style. "Then you should have kept your nose out of it, Peeta darling. You know I won't run away, lover boy. It's not my style. I've got things to do, people to eat."

Katniss shook her head. Her partner knew this Fatal Attraction wannabe?

Katniss had seen enough. The two were so focused on each other that it would be remiss of her not to take the opening. Stepping carefully, she lined up her spare stake. She wasn't about to lose Mr. Pointy.

With one fluid motion, the stake spun through the air and impaled itself through Clove's ribs.

Both combatants turned, their eyes wide in shock.

"You bi-" Clove turned to dust, falling to the earth.

Peeta followed the vampire's descent, collapsing to his knees. He reached out towards the dust blowing away in the wind. "Clove?" Katniss thought she heard him say before he wrapped his arms around his body.

"Yo, creepy stalker! We should probably get you to a hospital, get that leg looked at."

"Leave me alone." His chest was heaving, even though he didn't look up at her.

"That wound's gotta need stitches," she told him, taking several steps forward. "And I'm not good with the medical type stuff, that's my mom."

Peeta's head jerked up, his handsome face distorted in the unmistakable features of a vampire. "I said leave me alone!"

Katniss gasped, recoiling back.

Without another word, Peeta sprang to his feet, running away.

Unable to process what her eyes were telling her, the Slayer gaped after him, her mind reeling.

 **oOo**

Katniss staggered home, her thoughts whirling. Peeta was a vampire. He'd lied to her. No, if she was honest with herself, he'd gone out of his way to avoid lying to her. He'd given her a crucifix… Oh God... She'd given him access to her neck. What kind of Slayer allows a vampire easy access to her neck? It was like asking to be killed.

But he didn't kill her.

What kind of vampire was he? What kind of vampire holds back from ripping into the Slayer's throat? What kind of vampire gives a Slayer a crucifix anyway?

She knew Slayer blood was considered a delicacy by many of the undead and most of the fledglings she fought nattered on about drinking her dry. Well, until she dusted them.

She was confused. She didn't like being confused. Puzzles and tricks were never her thing, she liked her vampires straightforward. Evil, demonic, and dusty.

She got home, walking in the front door and shutting it absently behind her.

"Katniss? Is that you?" she heard her father's voice ask from the living room.

She looked over at her father, her face stricken.

Instantly, Mr. Everdeen was on his feet. "Oh, Katniss. What's wrong? Is it Delly?"

She nodded her head, then shook it. "Daddy!" She threw herself into her father's arms, wanting desperately for things to go back the way they were two days ago, when her life made sense and she actually had friends. "I couldn't find her, Daddy. I lost the trail."

"That's alright, maybe she'll turn up. Maybe she's just being held hostage or, well, ran off."

"Delly?" she asked incredulously.

"Okay. She didn't run off." He stroked her back soothingly. "But we'll fix this, Katniss. It's late. You should go to bed."

She nodded her head. "Madge and Gale?"

"Haymitch and I took them home, made sure they got inside safely."

"Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them. They're my friends. If they still want to be my friends."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself, Katniss."

Katniss pulled back from her father and looked up at him. "You think so?"

"I know so," he said, smiling down at her. He lifted a hand and touched the crucifix. "Where'd you get that?"

"It was a gift."

"Really? From who?" His voice was light, but his eyes were another story.

Shaking her head, Katniss said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ah. That kind of gift."

Katniss shrugged, willing to let her father assume it came from a boy who had a crush on her, even if she knew the difference. "I just… I lost her trail, Dad. Got distracted. Got ambushed."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

Mr. Everdeen let out a little sigh of relief. "I don't know why I asked. Clearly you came out on top 'cause you're still here. But once a dad, always a dad…" He paused, pulling himself together. "We'll do some more research tomorrow. Go to bed." He flicked her gently on the nose. "Don't want to get bags under those eyes."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, giving him another quick hug. "Don't know what I'd do without you."

She trudged up the stairs and flopped down onto her ivy bedspread. What was she going to do? How could she tell Gale that she let herself be distracted by a hunky blond vampire with really great arms from her quest to find his missing girlfriend? Yeah, that'd go over well.

Idly, she fingered the crucifix around her neck. She wondered if it still worked, considering the source, but she recalled that Peeta had handled the piece of jewelry gingerly, careful to only touch the box or the chain, not the actual cross itself. The fact that he could handle the necklace at all told her something very important: he was old. Fledgling vampires recoiled from crosses, unable to even bear the sight of them. Only those vampires over a hundred years old seemed to have built up enough defenses to overcome their instincts.

There was a slight knock on the doorframe of the jack-and-jill bathroom she shared with her sister Prim. "Katniss? You okay?"

"I'm fine, Little Duck," she replied automatically.

"You don't sound fine."

She sighed. "'Cause I'm not."

"What's wrong?" Prim came over and lay down on her side on the bed next to Katniss, her voice filled with concern.

"I don't know. Nothing. Everything."

"Sounds like you've got boy problems."

Katniss bit at her lower lip, a habit she hadn't gotten around to breaking yet. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that. Boy problems, girl problems, school problems… I've just got problems."

"You know I'm here if you need me." Prim reached out and rubbed Katniss's back gently. "You may be the world's most annoying big sister, but you're still my sister."

"Thanks." Katniss rolled over and tugged her sister close. "Thanks, Little Duck," she whispered before bursting into tears.

 **oOo**

The clock on her bedside table read 1:53 am. Katniss sighed, untangling herself from her sister's arms and rolling off the bed. She hadn't slept, not really. Some fitful dozing, but her mind was just too jumbled to sleep.

She carefully opened the door to her bedroom, still in her clothes from the day before, now decidedly more rumpled and dust-stained. She considered briefly changing into her yummy sushi pajamas before shaking her head. She needed to clear her head and maybe some fresh air would help.

She slipped downstairs, careful not to wake her parents, and out the door of the kitchen to the back porch. Sitting down on the wide painted wood step, Katniss stared up at the stars, wishing that someone out there would give her an answer.

"You okay?" a familiar voice asked out of the darkness.

Cursing internally, Katniss glared in the direction the voice came from. "Not you again."

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, not stepping into the light.

"I don't know. Are you gonna kill me?" she countered.

He moved forward so that she could see him, his features etched with confusion. "Why would I go to all the trouble to keep you alive?"

"I don't know, so you could kill me yourself?"

"That's not how I work, Katniss," he told her, shaking his head.

She was so confused and she hated feeling confused. It made her angry. "How do you work then?" she demanded, gesticulating wildly. "You're a vampire! I'm the Slayer! Doesn't that make us mortal enemies?"

"Not for me." He took a deep breath that she knew he didn't need. "Never for me."

"I don't understand you, Peeta."

"You didn't answer my question," he said, gently.

"What question?"

"Are you gonna kill me?"

"I don't know. Maybe." She shrugged. "I'm supposed to. You're a soulless demon who likes to feed on the blood of innocents."

"I don't."

"What? Feed on blood?"

"No. Feed on innocents."

"So what do you eat?"

"Well there's this butcher on the corner of Second and Elm that sells me beef and pig blood."

She shuddered. "Sounds… appetizing."

"It's a bit like eating granola," he told her. "Not the tastiest of meals, but it'll keep you alive. It's better than the alternative."

"What? Being dead?"

"No. Killing someone."

"That doesn't make any sense!" she burst out. Why did he have to be so frustrating? She liked her life neatly organized with everyone and everything in their proper place and Peeta didn't fit into any of the categories she had.

"Why doesn't it make any sense?" he asked, his voice carefully light.

"You're a vampire! Killing people is what you do."

He chuckled. "I'm not your typical vampire."

"I get that. Look, I'm not gonna kill you in the next five minutes, kay? So come over here so we don't wake up the neighborhood."

Peeta laughed, stepping closer to her. "Can I sit down?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"Very mature, Katniss," he told her, sitting down next to her on the stairs.

She glared at him. "What do you want? I'm fifteen, not however old you are."

"I'm twenty one."

Katniss tilted her head, giving him a look.

Peeta held up his hands. "I was turned at twenty one. Better?"

"Better. When?"

"A long time ago."

"And you're back to the vague," she complained.

"I don't know how not to be." He shrugged slightly. "It's been a long time since I've met someone like you."

Katniss decided to let it drop. "So what's your big interest in me? And don't give me any of your vague long story crap."

He took another deep breath. "Would it be creepy if I said I've been watching you for a while?"

"Yes."

"Figured," he sighed. "It's not really all that creepy, you see, a seer pointed you out to me. Said you'd be special, that you'd change the world." He regarded her seriously. "That you'd change me."

"So what makes you so special?"

Peeta closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "I've got a soul, Katniss."

"No, you don't. Vampires don't have souls," she told him, her voice firm. "Everyone knows that."

"I do."

"Oh really? Prove it." She knew it was a childish comeback, but she couldn't think of anything better to say.

He smiled at her gently. "What does your Slayer tell you?" Peeta asked, his eyes warm. "Your Slayer knows I'm not a threat. That I wouldn't hurt you. I couldn't hurt you."

Katniss stared at him, realizing that every word coming out of his mouth was the truth. Most vampires couldn't sneak up on her, but Peeta did, and only Peeta did. And then there was the incident with the necklace. Her Slayer didn't stir when Peeta touched her neck. It was like she knew. It still wasn't any less confusing. "Why me?"

"I told you, you're special." He took a breath. "And I like you, Katniss. I want to see you survive this. Survive all of this. Isn't that a good enough reason?"

"I'm the Slayer, Peeta," she said ruefully. "No one survives that."

Peeta got up and looked down at her, shooting her a look she couldn't decipher. "Maybe you'll be the first."

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 6/7/15  
 **Revised:** 6/11/15

Peeta revealed his past a little faster here than Angel did. That's because he's not Angel… not fully. He's got aspects of Angel, Spike, and himself. Also because we're seriously condensing story arcs and merging them and mixing them and reordering all the things. Just because you know what happened in Buffy, doesn't mean you'll know what happens here.

Up Next: Part Five - The Reaping

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	5. Ep1 - The Reaping

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer** **  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth** **  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Five - The Reaping

 **oOo**

The next day at school, Katniss had to face the unwelcome duty of telling Gale and Madge of her failure to find Delly.

Gale took the news surprisingly well. Katniss half-expected him to explode in anger, but the tall boy just nodded his head sadly. "Not like there was much you could do. I guess being the Slayer doesn't automatically make you some kind of bloodhound." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not even sure a bloodhound could've found Delly. It's not like we're out in the woods or a desert where you could follow the tracks easily. I guess it's just a bit too much to ask for there to be some kind of magic spell to make everything better."

Katniss bit her lip. She didn't want to tell him that magic possibly could have found Delly, because she didn't know of any magic users in the area. The last magic user she knew of, Wiress, had died several months ago. "I'm - I'm sorry," Katniss said again, lamely.

"It's okay. They could just be holding her hostage," Gale offered, clearly trying to convince himself. "Maybe they need her for this Reaping thing. If we can find out the specifics, maybe we'll be able to get her back."

"Maybe," Katniss said, trying to be cheerful for the sake of her friend. But internally, she knew the chances were pretty low. It was a lot more likely that Delly had been taken to be someone's midnight snack rather than a guest of honor at whatever this Reaping was.

The next few hours of school were hell. Not only was Katniss having trouble staying awake in all of her classes, in fact Dr. Gregory had to wake her up partway through biology, but every time she looked at either Gale or Madge, she felt a stab of guilt for not being able to find Delly.

By the time lunch rolled around, Katniss was pretty much done. Staring at the haphazard pile of books spread around the library, Katniss let out a groan. "Still nothing?" she asked Haymitch and her father while Madge and Gale thumbed through a listing of all of the nearby farms to see if anything stood out.

"We're narrowing it down," her father said, looking up from the book on ancient Chumash ceremonies.

"Yeah, only twelve rituals to go through," Haymitch said glumly.

Katniss nodded her head, twelve sounded like a more reasonable number than where they'd been at before. "Look, if I'm supposed to fight or do anything tonight, I'm gonna need to get out of here. I fell asleep in biology. Biology! It's lucky we weren't trying to dissect a frog or it would've been an amphibious disaster going on there."

"Why don't you go home?" her father suggested. "I can let the office know that you're not feeling well."

"Thanks." She smiled at him gratefully.

He glanced at his watch. "Just come back here a little before sundown so that we can bring you up to speed on likely locations."

"Are you gonna need us tonight?" Madge piped up.

Katniss looked at the slim girl candidly and told her, "Probably not."

"Great," she said brightly then flinched. "I didn't mean it like that. If you need us, we'd be happy to help. It's just that, um, Gale and I were thinking, we should probably head to the Arena. The three of us always went to the Arena on Friday nights for band night and I think, I think Delly would want us to be there. She always liked to support the little guys."

Katniss forced herself not to wince.

Madge tried to put on a cheerful smile. "You can join us later, if you want."

"Sure, sounds good," Katniss answered, trying not to quash her friend's hopes. "Most of these ritual things tend to take place at midnight or another significant time. I'll probably have a few hours of downtime." She motioned to Haymitch and her father. "Assuming these two knuckleheads can make some progress and figure out just where this thing is going down."

Haymitch glared at his Slayer. "Keep callin' us knuckleheads and I might have to take offense to that."

"I'm so scared."

"You should be, sweetheart. You should be."

 **oOo**

After sleeping for three hours, Katniss felt more prepared to face whatever was going to happen that night. Going to her closet, she dressed for battle while making sure she didn't look like she was dressed for battle. She pulled on lightweight washable gray pants that she knew accented her legs. Some girls might wear skirts but Katniss wasn't one of them. On top she wore a paler gray sweater that hugged her curves and didn't ride up if she moved her arms. Over that, she pulled on a gray acid washed denim jacket, because even though it was California, it still got cold at night and denim added a small level of protection from road rash. Finally, sitting down on her bed, she laced up her well-broken-in steel toed Doc Martens. Nothing said 'back off' better than a swift kick to the head with a steel toed boot. She finished her outfit with a large carrying case for her bow with several stakes hidden in easy to access locations in her clothing. No way was she going out hunting unarmed and unprepared.

She walked down the stairs and into the front hall, waving at Prim, who was seated in the living room with the girl from the Arena who'd offered Katniss her karaoke turn.

"Where are you going?" Prim called.

"Out."

"Where?"

"Just out." Thinking about the Harvest and Delly's disappearance, Katniss paused and looked back at her sister. "Look, do me a favor, Little Duck? Can you and your friend just… stay here tonight?"

Prim made a face. "But… we want to go to the Arena. Rue's brother Thresh's band, Don't Fear the Reaping, is playing there tonight."

"Please, Prim. Do it for me? Just this once." She reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a twenty. "Here. Get a pizza. On me."

"Bribery," Prim said getting to her feet and coming over to Katniss. "I approve. Throw in the new Spice Girls CD and you've got a deal."

The Slayer sighed. "Fine. I'll get it for you this weekend."

"Rue, how do you feel about ditching your brother's concert and staying in and watching The Craft and Romeo + Juliet?" Prim asked, leaning back into the family room.

"Fine with me," Rue replied. "The lead singer's mean and doesn't sing nearly as good as I can. Just so long as you make me a tape of your new Spice Girls CD, I'm in."

"You get your wish, Katniss," Prim said, swiping the twenty from Katniss's hand. "Rue and me will stay in for the evening."

"Thanks, Little Duck. Oh, and, whatever you do, don't invite anyone in." As soon as the words left her mouth, Katniss felt like an idiot. It was an old rule in the Everdeen house, never invite anyone in. A rule that suddenly made a lot more sense when Katniss found out she was the Slayer… and even more so, now that she knew her father was a Watcher.

Prim just gave her a look and Katniss escaped before she said anything else that she might regret.

The walk back to the high school was thankfully uneventful. As she walked into the library, she called out, "So… what have you two knuckleheads found out?"

"You're gonna pay for that, sweetheart."

"Later," her father said, shooting the two of them an exasperated look. "Actually, our time was pretty productive. It appears as if the majority of events seem to culminate either at moonrise or just before the stroke of midnight, but there was one event mentioned in several books of recent prophecy which foretells the rising of the Master, an ancient vampire and founder of the house of Coriolanus. Apparently he was trapped here, in Panem, by a rival demon, and tonight is the first chance that his followers have to set him free. The Liputian Prophecies state that the Reaping requires the blood of five score humans while the Annals of Zican state that the Reaping must be performed by a surrogate, bound to the Master by blood. I assume that means a favored childe, so it is likely that the surrogate will be a vampire of some strength."

"Great," Katniss grumbled. "Just great. Any good news?"

Her father looked up at her. "Well, they probably kidnapped your friend to be one of the victims. If we can interrupt the ritual in time, we might be able to save her."

"So point me where to start interrupting," Katniss told him.

"That's slightly more of a problem. Haymitch and I have narrowed it down to eight possible locations. We've circled them here." He pulled out a map and slid it over to her.

Katniss scrutinized it carefully, noting the locations. "What are these three?" she asked, pointing at a tight cluster.

Haymitch squinted at the map. "Looks like a shrine to the Blessed Mother located on Overlook Cliff, the Nevada Cemetery, and the Church of the Twelve Apostles. Why'd ya ask?"

She circled the area with her finger. "Because it's around here that I lost Delly's trail."

"I suppose that's where we go first," her father said. "It's going to take several hours for one vampire to drain a hundred victims."

"Why'd you circle the high school?" Katniss asked, looking at the other possible locations on the map.

"Looks like whatever city planner in their infinite wisdom decided that nothing screamed Hellmouth like a high school," Haymitch snarked, taking a swig from his ever present flask.

"It does make some kind of poetic sense," Katniss said.

He belched. "Tell me about it. Ain't anything more miserable than a bunch of whiny ass teenagers."

"I'll go check these places out-"

"Not alone you won't," her father interrupted. "It'll take you hours to make it to all eight locations. Chances are, if you did that, you might even miss the Reaping entirely." He shook his head. "No. I'll drive you."

"What about Haymitch?"

"I'll stay here and keep my eyes open," her Watcher told her. "I'm a better fighter than your dad anyways. Just check back in on me every couple of hours, make sure I'm not dead. If I am, you'll know you've found the place." He took another swig from his flask.

Her father rolled his eyes at the other man. "Yes, I'm sure that would be very comforting."

 **oOo**

Don't Fear the Reaping was an odd band. Made up of four students from Panem High School, they looked like a hodgepodge of rejects from other, more famous, bands. The drummer was straight out of Metallica while the bassist looked like he was channeling Lenny Kravitz, minus the dreadlocks. The lead guitarist seemed to be imitating David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days and the lead singer looked like a very young Stevie Nicks. Thankfully, their music was more harmonious than their look. They played an interesting mix of alternative and pop, mixed with the occasional classic cover. Don't Fear the Reaping was a fairly popular local band and Caesar liked to book them because they didn't cost all that much.

At their table, Madge and Gale were drinking peach sunsets in honor of Delly, although Gale was more stirring his than actually drinking it.

"Maybe she'll turn up," Madge said hopefully.

Gale gave his best friend a look. "You really think that?"

"No." Madge shook her head sadly. "But… until we know for sure, I'm gonna try to stay positive. It's what Delly would've wanted."

"Yeah. I suppose." He sighed. "I just… I just feel like I should be doing something! Not sitting here, drinking this frou-frou drink," Gale said, glaring at the pink and orange concoction.

Up on stage, the band changed from an original composition to one of their more well-known covers, 'Who Will Save Your Soul.' The singer was not as good as Jewel and her voice got a little pitchy at times, but she was pretty enough and dressed in a flowing skirt and poet blouse, with her blond hair in two loose braids. She clearly had a contingent of devoted fans, most of them male, standing up by the front of the stage applauding her every half-hit note.

Partway through the second chorus of 'Who Will Save Your Soul,' answering the question posed by the song, a deep voice called out, "No one."

The singer tried valiantly to keep going, ignoring the interruption.

Undaunted, Cato lunged forward in full vamp face, leaping up onstage, causing the singer and lead guitarist to take several steps back. "Sorry to interrupt such a lovely song performed by such a lovely band, but we've got a Reaping to perform."

"Dude! Uncool!" the guitarist said. "Crashing our gig like this."

"Yeah! That's my best song too!" the singer added.

"Sorry, it'll be your last. What's your name, little girl?"

"Glimmer."

"A pleasure, Glimmer." He reached out, grabbing her, pulling her toward him. "You've got another gig tonight. How do you feel about the title of offering?"

"Like shit!" Glimmer lashed out, jamming the microphone into his nether regions.

Cato howled. "You're going to pay for that!"

Glimmer leapt back, the lead guitarist flanking her, holding his guitar like a weapon.

Down amongst the crowd, Gale and Madge were on their feet, their eyes wide.

"Do you think we should do something?" Gale asked, clenching his fists.

"Like what?" Madge's eyes kept flicking back and forth between the fight taking place on the stage and her best friend.

"I don't know. Get out of here, go get Katniss?" he murmured.

Madge nodded her head. "There's an exit in back, by the restrooms," she supplied.

"I knew all that water drinking of yours would be good for something," he muttered. "Let's go before we get dead."

The two slowly, so as not to attract any attention, made their way to the back of the club and freedom.

They had barely rounded the corner of the back hallway when a blond woman stepped out, blocking their way. "Now where do you think you're going?" the woman asked in a cheerful tone. But it wasn't just any woman. It was Delly.

"Delly! You're alive!" Madge cried out happily.

Gale surged forward, taking his girlfriend in his arms. "Where have you been?" he cried into her hair. "I've been so worried!"

Delly returned the hug, then took a step back and looked up at him. "Oh baby, you didn't need to worry your pretty little head about me." Delly smiled, her face morphing into that of a vampire. "I was just fine."

 **oOo**

Katniss got back in the green Chevy Blazer. "Well, that was a bust. So where to next?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I suppose," her father said, looking at the steering wheel glumly. "Haymitch and I were so certain that one of these locations would be the place. They all have the correct mystical energies and are enough out of the way that no one would notice a hundred people being slaughtered."

"So… what do you want to do now?"

"I suppose the only option we have is to wait and maybe around an hour and a half before midnight, we can check the sites again and possibly some new ones to see if maybe we're just here too early," Mr. Everdeen replied.

"More research," Katniss groaned, leaning against the side of the car.

"You don't have to join us, Katniss, I know research isn't your strong suit," he said fondly. "How about I drop you off at the Arena and you can have a couple hours of fun with your friends before slaying time?"

"Really?" She couldn't keep the surprise out of her tone.

"You're my daughter, Katniss," he explained, warmth in his eyes. "Of course I want you to have friends and be happy. I'm not about to stop you from having a life just because you happen to be the Slayer."

"Best. Watcher. Ever."

Her father smiled. "I won't tell Haymitch."

They drove to the Arena, and at a red light down the street from the alley leading to the Arena, Katniss spoke up. "Why don't you just let me out here? You'd end up going out of your way to actually get me to the door. I can just walk the last block."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, tucking a few stakes up her sleeves. She left her bow case on the floor, she wouldn't need it for hanging out with her friends at the Arena. "I'm the Slayer. I can deal with a bunch of horny teenagers."

"Sounds good," he said, nodding his head. "Meet you here at 10:30 sharp."

Katniss got out of the car and waved goodbye to her dad. She had about two hours to spend with Gale and Madge and she wanted to make the most of it.

Crossing the street, she noticed something a little weird. There was a distinct lack of people coming out of the alley that led to the Arena. People were heading in, but no one was coming out. She frowned, slowing her pace.

As she passed the doorway to one of the closed businesses, a hand reached out and pulled her in. She immediately elbowed her assailant in the gut, whirling, her hands raised defensively, ready to pull out a weapon. Her eyes widened when she saw her attacker and her stance relaxed slightly. "Oh. It's you. Don't you know better than to sneak up on innocent girls?"

Peeta shrugged, his face showing his concern. "Sorry about that, Katniss, but I didn't want you walking into that alley unprepared."

"Unprepared for what?"

"The Reaping."

She goggled at him. "What?"

"The Reaping. It's happening." He drew a deep breath. "Here. Now."

"At the Arena?" She shook her head incredulously. "That's like the least mystical place ever."

"Actually, it isn't," he corrected. "Caesar paid top dollar for that location. The place doesn't amplify magic. It amplifies emotions. Which, for a morphling demon, is like reaching the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

"But doesn't that place have protections?" Katniss asked, trying to think back to the conversation with Caesar that felt like it happened so long ago even though it only was a few days ago. "I seem to remember the morphling telling me that there were protections."

"It did." He pulled her back onto the sidewalk and walked down a few steps, pointing at something with his foot. "That looks like yew, pine, and maybe rosemary. Probably got a witch to do some kind of spell so that they could get in."

"How did you find all this out?"

"A little seer told me."

Katniss looked at him sceptically.

He held up his hands defensively. "No, really. Well, that, and I had a bakery delivery."

"Bakery?"

"I kind of run a bakery," he said with a shrug. "It keeps me occupied and out of trouble."

"A vampire with a soul running a bakery. How weird is that?"

"I don't know, I could be running a law firm in LA."

She chuckled. "Point. It would be like you'd never even gained your soul to begin with."

"It's like Shakespeare said, in an ideal world, the first thing they'll need to do is kill all the lawyers."

"So you're not just cryptic, you're also well-read."

He smiled at her. "I've had a lot of time."

They continued walking towards the Arena. "So… seer?" she asked, looking over at him.

"Seer."

"Must be nice, having someone to tell you where to go and when you need to be there without having to do all of the crazy research."

"It's actually a little annoying," he said with a sigh. "They're not really all that predictable and they're often really hard to interpret, and it doesn't help that…" He trailed off.

Katniss tilted her head. "Don't help that what?"

"Nevermind, it doesn't matter," he replied, brusquely. "I think we need to hurry up. I hear screams."

"Really?"

"Yeah, vampire hearing. Much better than human."

Katniss gave him a look, but decided that he was right, they did have the Reaping to stop. They turned the corner of the alley leading to the Arena and saw a group of six fledglings guarding the door.

Katniss glanced over. "I'll take the three on the left if you'll take the three on the right."

"What, three on one? Those are crap odds."

"Yeah, crap for them." She grinned.

Katniss surged forward, Peeta hot on her heels. It wasn't much of a skirmish. It was clear that these fledglings were barely a month old, if that. They had all of the initial vampire strength and speed but no idea how to use any of it. Up against a well-trained Slayer and an ancient vampire, the six didn't stand a chance. Less than five minutes after the fight began, all of the fledglings were dust and Katniss and Peeta were staring at the door to the Arena.

"So, is there anything I need to know before I kick the door down?"

Peeta sighed. "Cato will probably be in there."

"Who?" Katniss asked, giving him a look.

"He's the Master's right hand," Peeta explained. "He's older than me, like a lot older, like older than pretty much any other vampire."

Narrowing her eyes, the Slayer asked, "How old are we talking about?"

"Old. Roman old."

Katniss's heart dropped. She'd never fought a vampire that old before. Even Lothos hadn't been that old. "So… there's a two thousand year old vampire on the other side of that door and you didn't see fit to tell me so I could bring reinforcements or maybe more weapons?" Her voice was hard.

"Uh, sorry?" Peeta apologized, actually looking apologetic. "It's that seer thing - not really all that predictable. Or timely."

"So basically, we're going to be walking into an unknown situation with hundreds of innocents in the line of fire with an unknown number of opponents and a two thousand year old vampire who is probably going to be really pissed off that we're interrupting his ritual," she recapped in a flat tone.

"Sounds about right."

"Great," she sighed. "We're about to face imminent death. Just what I always wanted to do on Friday night."

"Well, it's one hell of a first date."

Katniss looked at Peeta, eyebrows raised. "Your idea of a date is really skewed."

"Vampire."

"Don't remind me. And it's not a date!"

"Shall we go?" Peeta motioned to the door of the Arena, pointedly ignoring her last sentence.

Katniss kicked the door off of its hinges, surprising the trio of vampires on the other side. Before they had time to move, Peeta was on them, dusting them with precision born of experience.

Katniss stormed in, her eyes on the large blond vampire up on stage.

Cato released the body of the woman he'd just drained, letting her fall to the ground in a boneless heap. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Slayer and the traitor, come to save the day."

"Come to kick your ass, more likely," Katniss called out, slipping into her Slayer persona.

"You can try," Cato sneered. He turned to a group of vampires congregated near the front of the stage. "Boys, take care of them for me? I've got a Reaping to perform. And bring me another sacrifice, a pretty one. She'll do." He pointed at Cressida, who was huddled up against Flavius.

Two fledglings leapt forward and grabbed her. Cressida screamed and everything descended into chaos. While the rest of the group of about fifteen or so fledglings converged on the Slayer and her partner.

Katniss groaned. "Great! More cannon fodder."

"Think we should let them have the opportunity to run away?" Peeta asked, eyeing them.

"Think they would take you up on the offer?" Katniss replied.

Peeta glanced up at the stage. "Probably not while Cato's still here calling the shots."

"Then I guess we know who target number one is."

"You have to get through us first!" one of the fledglings called out.

"That sounds like a challenge," Peeta said.

"Why yes, I think that was a challenge," Katniss agreed.

"Shall we, my lady?"

Katniss didn't bother to reply, pulling out two stakes so she could stake with both hands. She lashed out with her left hand, plunging the stake into a fledgling's heart. "One!"

"Oh, so this is a challenge between you and me?"

She staked a second with her right hand. "Two. You're falling behind."

Peeta grinned at her. "Oh, you are on."

The two waded in, dusting fledgling after fledgling, keeping count the whole time. Like outside in the alley, it was an uneven fight. As they cleared their path through the vampires, a whole contingent of frightened kids took advantage of the distraction to make their escape. Exactly what Katniss and Peeta wanted. The fewer potential victims, the happier everyone would be. Except Cato and his group, but no one cared what they thought.

As she fought her way towards the stage, Katniss kept her eyes open for Gale and Madge. She was hoping that they hadn't come or that they'd managed to go home before the Reaping started. Unfortunately, Katniss spotted them out of the corner of her eye near one of the tables in the back, cornered by a very familiar fledgling vampire: Delly.

Katniss sighed, hating herself for being unable to save her friend. The only thing she could do now was offer Delly a swift death so that she could be reunited with her soul.

But she couldn't worry about that now. She had to stop Cato first.

As their numbers deteriorated, the fledglings started realizing that they were fighting a losing battle, and several took off, fleeing from Katniss and Peeta. Katniss was grateful. The fewer enemies she had to fight, the more energy she could put into defeating the ancient vampire.

Jumping up onstage, she called out, "Yo, blondie! Pick on someone your own size!"

"Gladly. You'll make a fitting tribute for Master Snow's resurrection." He shoved Cressida to one side and the girl scrambled to her feet, wisely getting out of the way.

As Katniss started her dance with the giant vampire, she took note of her surroundings. Peeta was off near the bar, helping Caesar take out several remaining fledglings. Delly was staring at Katniss, watching and waiting to see how the fight with Cato would turn out. The band, minus their now dead lead singer, was helping guide a line of potential victims out the stage door. Good, Katniss thought to herself. Even if she didn't win this fight, there hopefully wouldn't be enough sacrifices for the ritual to succeed.

Drawing on her training, Katniss leapt forward, trying to find a weak spot. The girl knew her one and only chance of beating someone this large and strong was to keep moving and keep out of his reach.

Easier said than done.

Cato was a good fighter, a better fighter than all of the other vampires she'd fought tonight combined. He was so good that she wasn't sure she could beat him in an even fight. It was clear he had years of training and practice she just didn't, and couldn't, have. She knew she was fighting a waiting game until Peeta and everyone else managed to get the innocents clear.

Cato lashed out with one hand. Darting out of the way, Katniss stumbled backwards into the drummer's kit. The drums clattered to the floor, causing a horrible ruckus and drawing every eye in the Arena to her. But it also gave her an idea. If she could use some of the equipment onstage, she might be able to incapacitate Cato enough to get a lucky blow.

Shoving a stake into one pocket, she grabbed a drum and hurled it at Cato's head. She didn't expect the instrument to injure the vampire, merely to distract him long enough for her to think of something else.

She heard footsteps behind her and a few seconds later Peeta leapt up onstage. "Need help?" he asked, smiling warmly at her.

"I wouldn't say no. What took you so long?"

"Oh, you know how it is," he answered lightly. "When Caesar starts talking it's hard to slip away."

"Next time try harder."

"Are you saying that there's going to be a second date? I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Will you pay attention? And this is not a date!"

"Awww, isn't it sweet?" Cato mocked. "The traitor and the Slayer, in love. Master Snow will be pleased to know that I've taken out two headaches when I report back."

"In your dreams, Spartacus."

"Um, Spartacus was the good guy?" Peeta pointed out.

"Whatever!"

Standing side by side, Katniss and Peeta advanced on the vampire. Two of them against one of him was a much more even fight. But still, Cato had power and experience on his side.

By unspoken agreement, Peeta stepped forward, striking at Cato in order to give Katniss a chance to dust Cato with a thrown stake. Reaching down, Peeta grabbed the discarded bass guitar and swung it wildly at Cato. The large vampire dodged out of the way, his back now to the front of the stage. On Peeta's next swing, Cato caught the instrument and jerked it forward, pulling Peeta toward him off-balance. The souled vampire stumbled and Cato grabbed him, turning him to face Katniss, holding Peeta in front of him as a shield.

"You want to throw that stake at me, Slayer?" Cato taunted. "You've got to take out your boyfriend first."

"He is not my boyfriend!"

"Yet," Peeta said.

"Awww, isn't it cute? A vampire in love with a Slayer." Cato made several loud retching noises. "I'm gonna be sick."

"Will you two shut up," Katniss growled, glaring at the two of them. She shifted, trying in vain to get a clear shot. There was none.

Peeta shook his head. "Sorry, Katniss," he replied, clutching at Cato's arms with his hands.

The large vampire tightened his grip, moving his right hand up to cup Peeta's chin. "Take a good look at her face, traitor. I want her horrified expression to be the last thing you ever see."

Peeta surged into action. Slipping into vamp face, Peeta opened his mouth and plunged his fangs into Cato's hand. The huge vampire howled in pain and surprise but Peeta didn't stop his blitz there. He stomped his foot down on Cato's instep and slammed his head backwards into Cato's chin.

The tactic worked. Cato loosened his grip on Peeta, taking several reflexive steps backwards.

As if sensing that this was his chance, Peeta broke free, slipping back into his human face, and kicked out with one foot to push Cato even further back.

The ancient vampire dodged back once again, but this time it was a mistake. His right foot met open air and he teetered there for moment before falling back first off of the stage.

It was all the opening Katniss needed. Darting forward, she leapt into the air and plunged her stake down into the falling vampire's chest, piercing his heart.

Cato's eyes widened in pain and despair as he realized he'd been defeated. He opened his mouth to try to say something but nothing came out. He crumbled into dust moments later as Katniss landed in a crouch on the floor of the club.

It was over. She let out a sigh of relief and looked around, trying to see where she needed to go next. She noticed that the club was mostly empty and Caesar was herding the last few stragglers out.

At the back of the club, she could see Gale and Madge having it out with the now vamped Delly. She started towards them.

As she got nearer, she noticed that whatever they were talking about was becoming more heated. Finally, the vamped Delly seemed to have had enough. She lunged at Gale, her mouth bared. Madge seemed to be expecting this because she shoved the tall boy out of the way and with one hand reached down and snagged what looked to be a peach sunset, throwing it in the blond vampire's face.

All three stood there for a second in shock, before Delly recovered, glaring daggers at Madge. "Oh, honey, you really didn't want to do that."

"Stay away from Gale!" Madge cried, stepping in front of the fallen boy.

"Oh Madge, Madge, Madge. Moving in on my territory already? And my body's not even cold."

Madge stared back at the other girl, her eyes wide.

"What? Surprised?" Delly asked mockingly. "I've always known you've wanted my man. I was just too much of a goody goody to say anything." She smirked, the expression looking so wrong on her face. "Not so goody goody now. Gale's mine. And he'll be mine. Forever. And if you want to fight?" She shrugged. "I'd be up for that."

Delly leapt toward the smaller girl and Madge was unable to put up much of a fight, although she tried, biting and kicking and clawing and using any and all objects that she could get her hands on as weapons.

Katniss positioned her stake, trying to get a good shot, as she wove her way through the minefield of overturned chairs and tables and dead bodies. But when Delly grabbed Madge by her neck, holding her up in the air, Katniss knew she'd run out of time. She hurled the stake in her hand, but Delly must have caught the motion out of the corner of her eye because she stepped to one side and the stake clattered to the ground harmlessly.

Glancing at Katniss, Delly sneered, "Oh, if it isn't the Slayer, come to save your friend? You're too late, just like you were too late to save me. Watch as one more friend gets crossed off your list." She squeezed her hand harder and Madge clawed at Dally's arm, trying in vain to get any air.

Behind Madge, Gale shook his head and rose to his feet, something clutched in his hand. He turned, seeing Madge's face turning red and then blue as Delly slowly shook the life out of her. Not waiting to see any more, Gale acted, plunging the stake that Katniss had thrown into his girlfriend's back.

It struck true and the vampire whirled to stare at Gale with betrayal in her eyes. "But baby, I lov-"

She crumpled into dust.

Gale and Madge both fell to their knees, Madge gasping for breath and Gale sobbing in despair.

The Reaping was over.

 **oOo**

Back in the mansion's garden, Coriolanus Snow crumpled to the ground at the edge of his rose garden. He'd felt his vessel's death and he knew the Reaping was a failure. Digging his hands into the soft earth of his flowerbeds, he whispered, "This isn't over."

 **oOo**

The Arena was quiet, an oddity on a Friday night. Amidst the destruction wrought by the Reaping, Gale and Madge sat on the floor, staring at the pile of dust that used to be Delly Cartwright.

Katniss sat a little to one side, watching the two, letting them grieve.

Madge was crying, huge gulping sobs, as she held an ice pack provided by Caesar to her damaged and bruised throat.

Gale just sat in silence, the earlier sobs having given way to a stunned denial. He kept reaching for the pile of dust before snatching his hand back.

Peeta padded over, having finished laying out the bodies of the dead. "They're clean," he said to Katniss.

The Slayer nodded her head. That was good. That meant all of the dead weren't going to rise again as vampires. She wondered what she should do now. She needed to do something. But what?

Caesar was outside, talking to the cops. The whole thing was being written off as gang violence with several innocents caught in the crossfire, including Glimmer, Don't Fear the Reaping's lead singer. The incident would be swept under the rug by the Mayor's office and by tomorrow everyone would be talking about the gang violence that left sixteen women dead and several more missing, presumed dead.

Gale looked up from Delly's ashes, meeting Katniss's eyes, his face stricken. "I - I killed my girlfriend."

Before Katniss could say anything, the blond man turned his eyes to Gale. "You didn't kill your girlfriend."

Gale glared over at Peeta. "Yes I did! I shoved a stake through her heart!"

"You didn't kill her," Peeta repeated, his voice emphatic. "Your girlfriend died the instant the vampires took her. When they drained her body and turned her into one of them, her soul was lost. You did the right thing. Now she can rest in peace."

"Why doesn't it feel like the right thing?" Gale asked, his voice stricken.

Peeta reached out and clasped the young man on his shoulder. "Because you're human."

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 6/12/15  
 **Revised:** 6/15/15

Thank you for reading!

Only the epilogue to this episode to go.

Part Six - Thank You, Please Come Again.

Let us know what you think!


	6. Ep1 - Epilogue - Thank You, Come Again

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer** **  
** **Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth** **  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Six - Thank You, Please Come Again

 **oOo**

Katniss was sitting on the first set of bleachers that had been pulled out for cheerleading practice in the gym, watching Cressida and her cronies. The four Stylettes, as they liked to call themselves, along with one other hapless male cheerleader, tried and failed, repeatedly, to make a pyramid with Cressida on top. It was kind of amusing.

Haymitch Abernathy, the cheerleading coach and gym teacher, as well as Katniss's erstwhile Watcher, sauntered up and took a seat next to the dark-haired Slayer. Spreading his legs wide he leaned back, resting his elbows on the bleachers behind him. "So. I hear you're quittin'."

"Yeah," Katniss said with a nod, watching Cressida fall backwards into Flavius's arms. "It doesn't really seem… right. I was only really on the team because of Delly."

"I get that." Haymitch took a drink from his flask. "So, got any plans for what you're gonna do for extracurricular activities?"

"You mean slaying vampires isn't enough?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Her watcher gave her a look. "You're the one who wanted to have a life, girl. I ain't about to stop ya from living what life you've got left."

That was one thing she appreciated about Haymitch. He didn't pull any punches or feed her false platitudes. He understood that a Slayer was always living on borrowed time.

"I haven't really given it a whole lot of thought," Katniss admitted.

"How do you feel about archery?" he asked, squinting at her. "Your dad tells me you're quite a shot and I wouldn't mind bringing home another state championship this year."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I just wanted to do something different. Fun."

"Well, think about it this way, sweetheart. If you're on the archery team, you can walk around Panem carrying a bow and arrow and no one will look at you funny." He took another drink. "Sure, they might dodge out of the way, but it gives you an excuse to walk around fully armed."

"You've got a point." She paused, looking around, noting that no one was talking about the events that had taken place on Friday. In LA, news like that would still be the talk of the school. Here, it was swept away with talk of a new store opening at the mall and what flavor of pies were at Mellark's Bakery. "You know, this is a weird town."

"Welcome to Panem, sweetheart," he said, pulling out his ubiquitous flask and taking another drink. "Welcome to Panem."

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written:** 6/14/15 **  
Revised:** 6/15/15

Thank you for sticking with us! We have plans on continuing this series, but it won't be right away. We want to work on finishing Floriography and getting ahead on Let Me Fly, as well as FanficAllergy putting out Participant. We'll revisit this the next time we feel the need to mash Buffy and Hunger Games together and say 'Now KISS!' We've set up quite a few things here. It'll be fun to see them pay off.

We look forward to seeing what you think: don't forget to leave a comment on your way out!


	7. Ep2 - Prologue - Time to Say Goodbye

Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer is property of Mutant Enemy. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans.

 **oOo**

 **Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
Episode Two: Family  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Previously on Katniss the Vampire Slayer:

" _I don't see why we had to move."_

" _I know you don't like change, but think of Prim. This is going to be good for her. She-"_

" _Yeah, she doesn't have to be the Firestarter's baby sister."_

* * *

" _Don't give me that BS, sweetheart. You're a Slayer."_

" _How do you know that?"_

 _Haymitch let out a short bark of laughter. "Cause I'm your Watcher."_

* * *

 _From behind a shelf of books, Gale Hawthorne stepped out, an expression of confusion marring his face. "What's a Slayer?"_

* * *

 _Caesar opened his arms expansively. "Why do you think I run a club? I get more than my fill every night! I've even had a witch I know put a little spell on the place to encourage people to take it outside."_

* * *

" _Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Be seeing you. Be seeing you, Katniss. Take care of yourself. Tick Tock!"_

* * *

 _Prim frowned. "You okay?"_

" _I'm fine. Go back inside. You know how Mom and Dad feel when you're out after dark."_

" _I'm fourteen, I'm not a baby anymore! I'm only a year younger than you!"_

" _You're still my little sister."_

* * *

" _Will you stop with the whole Mister Mysterious thing, Mr. Cryptic?"_

" _I prefer Peeta to Mr. Cryptic."_

* * *

" _You're a vampire! I'm the Slayer! Doesn't that make us mortal enemies?"_

" _Not for me. Never for me."_

* * *

" _I've got a soul, Katniss."_

* * *

" _You're my daughter, Katniss," he explained, warmth in his eyes. "Of course I want you to have friends and be happy. I'm not about to stop you from having a life just because you happen to be the Slayer."_

* * *

" _A vampire with a soul running a bakery. How weird is that?"_

* * *

" _Great. We're about to face imminent death. Just what I always wanted to do on Friday night."_

" _Well, it's one hell of a first date."_

" _Your idea of a date is really skewed."_

" _Vampire."_

" _Don't remind me. And it's not a date!"_

* * *

 _Delly sneered, "Oh, if it isn't the Slayer, come to save your friend? You're too late, just like you were too late to save me. Watch as one more friend gets crossed off your list." She squeezed her hand harder and Madge clawed at Delly's arm, trying in vain to get any air._

 _Behind Madge, Gale shook his head and rose to his feet, something clutched in his hand. He turned, seeing Madge's face turning red and then blue as Delly slowly shook the life out of her. Not waiting to see any more, Gale acted, plunging the stake that Katniss had thrown into his girlfriend's back._

 _The vampire whirled to stare at Gale with betrayal in her eyes. "But baby, I lov-"_

 _She crumpled into dust._

* * *

" _Why doesn't it feel like the right thing?" Gale asked, his voice stricken._

 _Peeta reached out and clasped the young man on his shoulder. "Because you're human."_

 **oOo**

Part One - Time to Say Goodbye

 **oOo**

In the movies, funerals always took place in the rain.

Clearly, the screenwriters for this film had never been to Southern California. The day Delly Cartwright was laid to rest was as sunny as the dead girl's personality. Katniss thought it was appropriate, all things considered, even if it wasn't a movie director's dream.

After the minister finished speaking, Katniss made her way over to where Gale and Madge were standing, looking down at the empty coffin. "Hey," she murmured, not really sure what to say. 'I'm sorry' just didn't seem to be enough.

"It was a lovely funeral," Madge offered. "And, look, so many people came. Delly would've liked that."

Gale nodded his head mechanically.

"Are you planning on going to the reception after?" Madge asked.

"I killed her," Gale said.

Madge froze.

Katniss stepped in. "No, you didn't. We've been over this. It wasn't your fault, Gale."

"Yeah, well, tell that to Delly." He glared at the Slayer, tears welling up in his eyes. "No, wait. We can't. 'Cause she's dead!"

Katniss opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. What could she say? Gale was right. Delly was dead. But she'd died long before Gale slipped the stake into her. Unfortunately, there was no way she could convince the young man of that. She needed help. An ally. Her eyes met Madge's, pleading for her to step in.

Reaching out with one hand, the blond girl placed it on Gale's forearm. "You need to stop beating yourself up. For Delly's sake. She wouldn't want you to be like this."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Madge shrugged. "All Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire."

That drew a snort of laughter from him. "Yeah. I guess. Delly always hated Brad Pitt."

Pressing her advantage, Madge said, "Yeah, so that means you need to stop acting like him." She poked him in the chest. "And if that means I've gotta keep poking you," she demonstrated again, "I'm gonna."

Gale captured Madge's hands to prevent her onslaught. "Thanks, guys. I'm glad you came."

Katniss smiled. Crisis averted.

From behind the group, a girl's voice spoke out. "Great. Can we leave yet?"

Casting her eyes heavenward, Katniss let out a groan. "Prim!"

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **7/28/15  
 **Revised:** 4/25/16

Starting with every actual new episode, just like in a TV show, we'll have relevant snippets in the "Previously on" section. This way, if you're joining us as a new reader, you don't HAVE to go back and read the previous episodes... although we highly encourage you to do so, as it will be very confusing if you don't. Also as a reminder, the first and last chapters of each episode will be short, just like if it were on TV.

And fair warning: there are spoilers here. We are not strictly following Buffy canon (since simply rehashing all 144 episodes would be both long and boring), but will be grabbing plots and backgrounds and characterizations as we need them. That means you may unintentionally be spoiled for all seven seasons of Buffy, all five seasons of Angel, and all three Hunger Games books. We won't outright state which parts are taken from which episode, but we will be using elements of later seasons as well as earlier ones. As both Buffy and Angel have been finished for over a decade and the Hunger Games trilogy has been out for over five years, we believe it is your responsibility if you want to remain spoiler-free. Therefore, this is the only warning you will get: read at your own risk!

Up Next: Part Two - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	8. Ep2 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
Episode Two: Family  
** _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Two - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

 **oOo**

"Why are we here?"

"Asking the existential questions now, huh, duckling?"

"Dad! I mean, Katniss I get." Prim surveyed the funeral, not even bothering to hide her boredom. "But why do we have to be here?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. Lots of people died in the Arena. Even your mom's partner is here," Mr. Everdeen said, pointing toward a handsome blond man in his late twenties with a wide smile, broad shoulders, and trim waist.

Prim regarded him, unimpressed. "Yeah, and why is he here? It's not like he has any kids or knew the Cartwrights."

"What's the real problem, Prim?" Mr. Everdeen's voice had the same pained tone all parents of teenagers get when they're starting to regret not using a condom. "You're being rude, which isn't like you."

To her credit, Prim flinched slightly at the rebuke. "It's just… Rue and I had plans."

"I see," Mr. Everdeen said in a tone that said anything but.

"We wanted to go to the mall."

"Uh huh." The silence that followed was chiding.

Prim squirmed a bit under her father's steely gaze. "I'm sorry."

Her father reached out and tugged on his daughter's hair. "It's okay, duckling."

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Prim whined, swatting at his hands.

"Aw, but you were so cute, following Katniss around everywhere like a little duckling trotting after its mother, saying 'Wait 'ats! Wait 'ats!'"

Glancing around to see if anyone who mattered had overheard, the girl hissed, "I'm not a toddler anymore!"

"You'll always be my little girl." He wrapped his arm around her.

"Dad!" Prim exclaimed, accepting the hug anyway.

"Go." He waved his hands at her. "Be social."

Prim made a little face, walking away from her father. She surveyed the room before heading towards where her sister, Madge, and Gale were standing in one corner, away from the rest of the reception. Taking a deep breath, Prim marched up to Gale and said, "I'm sorry for your loss. And I'm sorry for how I acted back at the graveyard."

Gale nodded his head, accepting her apology.

"So… tell me about Delly?" Prim asked, her voice uncertain.

A sad smile crossed Gale's face. "Delly was… perfect. I knew it from the first moment I met her."

"When was that?" Katniss asked curiously.

"I was four. Mom took me to the library, mostly to pick up some books for herself, and left me wandering around the children's section. I was bored, and books didn't interest me, so I spent my time pulling books off the shelves until one of the librarians spotted me and I took off running. I didn't get very far before I slammed into a girl about a year younger than me with her nose buried in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. That was Delly. Reading a book no three year old had any business being able to read. She took one look at me and smiled, and I was a goner." His eyes went far away as he recalled the meeting. "Spent the rest of the time with her reading me stories until my mom came and got me and I had to go home. Never was another girl for me."

Madge popped in. "Yeah, Delly and I always laughed about how Gale threw such a fit when he found out he wasn't gonna be able to go to school in the same year as her." She leaned forward, her voice conspiratorial. "He deliberately got himself held back a year just so he could be with Delly."

Katniss and Prim both looked up at Gale with questioning expressions on their faces.

The muscular boy just shrugged. "Guilty as charged. It worked out in the end, anyway."

Madge looked at her watch. "I should probably get going. Want me to drive you home?" she asked her best friend.

The boy looked around the reception, then nodded his head. "Yeah. Let me say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright first, then we can go."

"I'll go with you," Katniss said.

Prim hung back, heading towards the buffet table with its spread of hor d'oeuvres. She picked up a plate and started down the line. She wasn't really hungry, more looking for something to keep her occupied until she could get out of there. Next to her, two older women were gossiping.

"I feel so sorry for the Cartwrights!"

"Me too! Can you believe?" The woman's voice lowered to a whisper. "Having your daughter set on fire by gang members and there's nothing left, just a pile of ash?"

The other woman shook her head. "I don't know why they decided to go with a coffin. It's not like there's anything in it."

"Don't you know?" The other gossip sounded positively gleeful. "The Coins made their fortune in funerary services. And the Cartwrights were able to get a big discount on account of, well, you know."

Prim wrinkled her forehead and set her plate down, uneaten, weaving her way back to where she'd left her father. "Please tell me we can go soon. The people here are weird."

Mr. Everdeen glanced at the clock on the wall. "Yeah, we can go. Let's go get your mother and sister."

Mrs. Everdeen was standing next to her business partner, chatting about the number of kids with dust allergies. Katniss was standing with her, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else. As her father approached, the elder Everdeen daughter shot him a grateful look.

Mr. Everdeen smiled, placing a small peck on his wife's cheek in greeting. "Come on, Olive. We should get going before the girls turn into pumpkins."

"And that's my cue. See you tomorrow, Gloss."

"Should I bring anything on Saturday?"

"Just yourself."

Dr. Gloss Benjamin smiled. "Great. See you at six."

As the Everdeens walked away, Mr. Everdeen leaned down and whispered, "What was that about Saturday?"

"Oh. I didn't tell you?" Mrs. Everdeen seemed surprised. "I invited him over for dinner."

Mr. Everdeen pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. You didn't."

 **oOo**

"I was waiting for you to come out."

Katniss dropped the garbage bag, spilling coffee grounds and takeout containers over the porch. Not caring about the mess, the Slayer snatched up a used chopstick and whirled to face the unseen speaker. "Dammit, Peeta! Stop sneaking up on me like that!"

"I'm sorry. Here, let me help you with that," he said, coming over and crouching down next to the broken bag.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I told you." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "I was waiting for you."

Struggling to contain the rush of warmth that flowed through her at his words, Katniss knelt down across from him. "But why?"

"Patrol. You, me, vampires, poof." Peeta mimed slaying vampires with another dirty chopstick. He smiled at her. "It could be fun."

Katniss desperately wanted to say yes. Not just because Peeta was hot in a three alarm chili kind of way but also because it would save her from what was coming. But she'd made a promise to her dad not to abandon him tonight. "I can't. I have plans."

A flash of some emotion flickered behind Peeta's blue eyes. "What kind of plans?"

"Dinner plans."

"With who?" The tone of his voice changed slightly.

He was jealous, Katniss realized. She'd have to have a talk with him about that later, but right now it was more important to dispel his erroneous assumptions. "Oh no, not like that. Family dinner. Mom's having her practice partner come over to do the whole 'meet the family' thing and I have to make an appearance."

Peeta's shoulders relaxed. "So should I come back later?"

"That'd be good. I don't expect him to stay any later than ten, and even if he does, I can probably duck out by then saying I've got homework or something."

"Do you have homework?"

"I'm a high school sophomore, of course I have homework. It'd be the end of the world if teachers didn't assign homework." She gave Peeta a small half-smile. "In fact, I think that's one of the seven signs of the apocalypse."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, no. Unless for some reason you can write my paper about the French and Indian War or do my geometry homework, I'm pretty sure the answer's no."

Peeta grinned. "Geometry's out, but I can probably help with the history. I was alive during the French and Indian War. Saw it firsthand."

"You were?" Katniss's mind reeled at the thought. She'd known he was old. He'd confirmed it soon after they'd met. It was one thing to know he was old, it was another to really think about everything he'd seen. Everything he'd experienced. She felt like a child next him. An inexperienced, uninteresting child. Just what did he see in her? Still, the pragmatic part of her argued, he could be a good source of information. History suddenly seemed a whole lot more interesting now that she knew someone it had affected.

"Well, not technically," Peeta continued, seemingly unaware of the turmoil his words were causing. "I was undead at the time."

"So what was it like?" she asked, trying to quell her insecurities. Yay sense!

"Um, surprisingly uneventful," the blond vampire admitted, shoving trash into the ruined bag. "There wasn't a whole lot of action down in Virginia. Most of the fighting took place out on the frontiers."

"Then why was it important?" she asked, exasperated.

Peeta stood, the tattered remains of the garbage bag in his hand. Cradling it so it wouldn't spill more, he dumped it into the plastic bin over by the garage. "Because the results afterwards were part of what led to the American Revolution." He glanced back over his shoulder at her.

Flushing slightly, Katniss hurried over to throw out a stray Chinese food container. "Yeah, that is kind of important. Go French."

Peeta groaned. "The French and the Indians were on one side, the British were on another."

"But then why do they call it the French and Indian War?" The name didn't make any sense.

"I don't know," Peeta shrugged. "Back then, we called it the Fourth Intercolonial War or, after it was over, the Seven Year's War. Didn't really matter, except it was just another stupid war England made us pay for."

"Did you actually fight in the American Revolution?"

"I ate a redcoat or two, does that count?"

Katniss shook her head.

"Then no. I didn't. Not that I really cared all that much about the revolution. I was evil at the time, so…" he trailed off with a helpless shrug.

After a moment of awkward silence, Katniss glanced at the lit up windows of the house. "I should probably get back inside," she said, regret in her voice. "I left Prim alone with the oven. That's not always a good thing."

"So your sister's a horrible cook?"

"Not exactly. She's fine, so long as it doesn't require an oven. For some reason, any food she puts in one comes out burnt or raw. There's no middle ground."

"Sounds like you should get going," Peeta laughed. "See you at ten?"

"Sounds like a date."

If anything the smile on his face got even bigger. "You said it, not me."

"Dammit, Peeta!"

 **oOo**

"Well, Olive, you've got a lovely home. Thank you for inviting me over to share your family dinner."

Katniss struggled to keep a snort of disbelief from bursting out. Her house was pretty nice, but it wasn't a showpiece. It's not like any of them ran an art gallery. They didn't need to impress anyone with how fancy or posh their house was. And family dinner wasn't really a thing. Not with two working parents and two teenagers, one of whom was the Slayer. Everyone pretty much did their own thing. Only on holidays or when one of them was trying to impress someone did they put away the plastic silverware.

"Sorry about the roast." Her mother motioned to the roast sitting at a place of honor in the center of the table.

"No, no. I like my meat rare." Gloss took a bite to emphasize his point. "Besides," he said around a mouthful of meat, "you can always cook something a little more, it's a bit hard to cook it less."

"See, that's what I always say!" Prim interjected. "I told you you should trust me."

Mrs. Everdeen gave her youngest daughter a look. "Yes, Prim, we know."

"So, what made you decide to become a pediatrician?" Mr. Everdeen asked, trying to deflect what was turning into a battle of wills between his wife and daughter.

"I've always liked kids. It's a lot less stressful than being a surgeon, and I've become pretty good at telling when a kid's faking being sick and when they're actually sick. Whereas with adults, it's a lot more complicated. Kids pretty much come in with the same three things: strep throat, flu, or stomach flu." He laughed, showing off perfectly even white teeth. "It makes my life easy!"

"So are you seeing anyone?" Prim leaned forward, setting her elbows on the table.

"Primrose! That's none of your business." Mrs. Everdeen's eyes darted to her practice partner. "You don't have to answer that."

"What! Katniss is seeing someone!"

Surprised to be drawn into the conversation, Katniss exclaimed, "What? No I'm not!"

"Then who was the hunky blond?" her sister demanded, a triumphant expression on her face. "Don't think I didn't notice you two flirting over the trash, because I did."

"That was a private conversation!"

"Uh huh. So who is he?"

"Yes, Katniss. Who is he?" Her father's voice sounded like overprotective sitcom fathers everywhere. If it weren't her life, Katniss would find it funny. Just like Prim was.

"He's no one!" she hurried to explain. "Just a friend."

"A boyfriend?"

"No! Peeta's just a friend!"

"Oooh, Peeta." Prim made kissy noises. "Katniss and Peeta sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"

"Shut up, Prim, or so help me-"

"Katniss!"

Her mother's tone brought the Slayer up short. "What, Mom?" She pointed at Prim. "She started it!" Why was she getting into trouble? She was just defending herself.

"We have a guest," Mrs. Everdeen hissed.

"No, no, it's okay." Gloss waved off the argument. "I've got a sister too, and we… don't get along."

"Oh?" Her father leaped on the out Gloss gave him. "Is she your older sister, younger sister?"

"Twin sister, actually. And somehow that makes it worse." The handsome doctor let out a bark of laughter. "It's like we share a bond we can never quite escape, no matter how much I try. No worries, I get it." He turned toward Prim. "So, Prim, have you given any thought to what you want to do when you grow up? Maybe become a doctor like your mom or a librarian like your dad?"

"Nope. I'm gonna be a vet." The girl preened under the man's attention. Katniss resisted the urge to roll her eyes; that'd just start another round of arguments.

"Our Primrose here has quite the stuffed animal collection."

"Mom!"

"What? It's true."

"You don't have to say it like that!" Prim sounded horribly offended.

Katniss couldn't help but smirk a little. Now her sister was the one getting the parental embarrassment. Turnabout was fair play.

To his credit, Gloss just rolled with it. "Really? So which is your favorite one?"

"Lady."

"Lady?"

Prim didn't answer, so Mr. Everdeen stepped in. "Lady's a stuffed goat Katniss got Prim for her eleventh birthday. Even picked out a pale pink ribbon to go with it."

"Ah. I see."

"Lady might be my favorite stuffed animal, but she's not as good as Buttercup."

"Buttercup?" Katniss and Gloss asked at the same time.

"He's my cat."

"We have a cat?" Katniss asked. "Since when?"

"Since a few days ago," Mrs. Everdeen answered. "Prim found him cowering under the stairs. Ugliest kitten I've ever seen."

"He is not ugly! He just needed a bath!" Prim's voice was indignant. Offended.

This time Katniss did roll her eyes. Seriously. Sticking up for a cat. It was just a cat. Not like it cared what it looked like.

"So how old is this cat?" Gloss asked, interrupting the Slayer's internal rant.

"The vet says he's maybe two, three months old. It's hard to tell, he's so little."

Katniss shook her head. "Was anyone gonna tell me about this?"

"We're telling you now," her mother answered, her tone warning Katniss to drop it.

Katniss sat back in her chair. Fine, she'd stop. For now.

Unfortunately, Gloss didn't seem to get the same memo. "So where is this famous Buttercup?"

"In the basement," Prim answered, making googly eyes at the doctor. Great, just what everyone needed: her sister getting a crush on their mother's partner. Their mother's young, attractive, single partner. "Mom doesn't want him running around the house until he's completely dewormed and doesn't have fleas anymore."

Gloss reached out to pat Prim's hand. "Probably for the best."

The girl looked like she'd just been touched by one of the Backstreet Boys. "He's a good kitty. He's already caught a mouse."

Katniss couldn't keep silent anymore. "Great. Just what we need. More vermin. I guess he can stay, looks like he can earn his keep."

"Oh thank you, Katniss." Prim's starstruck expression dissolved into annoyance. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I live for your approval and permission. As if you're the head of the family and not Mom and Dad!"

"Whatever." She was done with this dinner. If Prim wanted to make a fool of herself, it wasn't Katniss's problem. The Slayer turned to her parents. "Can I go? I've got homework."

"But we haven't even had dessert," her mother protested.

"I'm not hungry."

"You just want to see Peeta."

Katniss loved her sister but sometimes she made it so hard! Especially when she was being a brat and pushing her buttons… even if she was right. "I do not!" she lied. "I really have homework and I'm supposed to go out tomorrow with Gale and Madge, and I don't want to wait until the last minute."

"It's okay, honey. You can go," her father acquiesced over her mother's glare. "I know you've got a lot to do."

Katniss met her father's eyes. He understood. The work of a Slayer was never done.

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **10/1/15  
 **Revised:** 4/25/16

About Prim's behavior, yeah she's a lot more bratty here than she is in canon. That's deliberate. Let's just say there are reasons for it and it's also why we changed her age to be closer to Katniss's. We love Prim, part of the fun of doing this is showing how and why certain characters end up the way they do and right now we're setting a lot of baselines.

Up Next: Part Three - Flower Power

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	9. Ep2 - Flower Power

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
Episode Two: Family**  
 _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Three - Flower Power

 **oOo**

The Arena was closed, had been closed ever since the failed Reaping. A handwritten sign in loopy scrawl proclaimed the club would be back following much needed renovations.

Renovations was pretty much a euphemism for complete reconstruction and overhaul. The front door to the club was new, replaced in the last few days, but plywood still covered several of the windows. To one side of the door lay a pile of pictures, knickknacks, candles, and flowers, a memorial to all those who'd lost their lives that night.

In front of the memorial knelt Gale Hawthorne, his fingertips lightly caressing the smiling face of his now dead girlfriend, Delly. Guilt was etched on his handsome features. Clutched in his left hand was a bouquet of flowers. Not the typical roses, but other less haughty blooms: daisies, heather, lavender, and carnations. Flowers Delly'd liked when she was alive.

"You're still here," a weathered voice said from behind the young man.

He didn't turn to look at the speaker. "I come here every Friday."

"I know. I was talkin' about the length of time you was staying. Not the days you was comin'. It's getting longer and longer each time. Soon, I fear, you'll never leave." There was a hint of disapproval in her tone.

"It's only been two weeks."

"And soon it'll be three, then four. Soon enough, a whole year'll pass."

"Leave me alone." Gale clenched his fists.

The old woman shrugged. "What you got there?"

"What's it look like?"

"Like you're bringing gifts to your girl." She motioned to the bouquet. "Interesting choice of flowers you picked. You know what they mean?"

He finally turned to look at her, a frown on his face. "No, they're just flowers."

"Flowers have power in them, just like people." She tilted her head. "Just like you. You combine the right ingredients and you get a spell."

"Like… magic?" Gale sounded intrigued. Then he shook his head as if shaking off a vision or a bad dream. "I don't believe in magic."

The old woman laughed. "Lord above! Your girl gets turned into a vampire and your new friend's the Slayer and you don't believe in magic?" She bent at the waist and peered into his face. "You sure you ain't wearin' blinders, boy?"

"Who are you?"

"Name's Sae. Caesar asked me to re-ward his place for the grand reopening."

"Re-ward?" His lips stumbled over the unfamiliar word.

"Cast a spell. Burn a few herbs, chant a few words." She wriggled her gnarled fingers in his face. "You know, witchy stuff."

"You're a witch?" Light dawned in his eyes. "Aren't you that old woman that works at Mellark's?"

"That'd be me, but I do more than just bake bread, boy. I'm a witch." She paused, regarding him solemnly. "You could be too, you know."

Gale just stared at her in shock.

 **oOo**

For a sleepy California town, Panem was positively bustling the Saturday morning before Thanksgiving. It was as if everybody and their sister decided they needed to get the pre-holiday shopping in right that instant, and promptly descended on Main Street in droves.

And, where the crowds went, the ne'er-do-wells followed. Kids looking to score a five fingered discount while store clerks were distracted. Pickpockets using the jostling crowds to lift wallets and other valuables. Down on their luck people panhandling, hoping the holiday spirit would extend to them.

Katniss was grateful the sun hadn't set just yet, because then there'd be an extra unwelcome addition: vampires looking to take advantage of the happy meals on legs.

If she didn't have to, Katniss wouldn't be there. She'd never been a big fan of crowds. Too much could go wrong in a crowd. Too many innocents could get hurt. But unfortunately, she and Prim had an errand to run.

"I can't believe it costs fifty bucks to have flowers delivered to Mom's work!" Prim groused, tucking her now-empty butterfly bedecked wallet into her purse as they left the shop. "That was the last of my babysitting money too. And all of my clients are back in L.A.!"

Katniss shrugged. Ever since she'd become the Slayer, babysitting had kind of gone out the window. She'd been forced to use what was left of her birthday money on the apology gift. "Yeah, but we're the ones who screwed up her dinner. I don't relish being grounded for the rest of high school. There are things I need to do." Like saving the world, she thought to herself. "And if it means our allowances are reinstated after this, it's worth the money."

"Yeah, I guess. It'd be nice to get paid for doing chores again." Prim tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "But why do you need the money? It's not like you spend it on anything. You're the biggest Scrooge ever to Scrooge."

"I like stuff!" Katniss protested. She did! She had plenty of stuff! She'd even started on her Christmas list… which admittedly had cash as her number one choice of gifts. "...But I like money too."

Prim smirked at her sister. "You are so Scrooge McDuck. Next thing you know, you're gonna be diving into your pile of gold and swimming through it!"

"I'm not the one who still watches cartoons! I've got bigger things to worry about, like vamp- boys!" Katniss covered quickly. "I mean boys!"

"Mmm, boys." Her little sister's voice was teasing. "Do you mean all boys or one boy in particular?"

Heat threaded Katniss's cheeks. "Knock it off!"

"Ooh, I'm right. It's one boy. Is it Peeeeeeeta?"

"Stop it, Prim." Katniss shook her head. "When did you become such a brat?"

"I am not a brat!" Prim side-stepped a young family with a gaggle of kids. "You just became a bitch!"

The parents glared at the two girls, ushering their brood away from the teens.

Katniss groaned. Now she was going to get a reputation as a corrupter of the innocent and it was all Prim's fault! "Ugh! You are so annoying!"

"You were annoying first!"

"Why can't you shut up?" Katniss cried, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. Several shoppers glared at her. A disheveled panhandler looked up from his spot up against one of the shops. The Slayer ignored them all. She was sick of Prim pushing her buttons. "We never used to fight like this!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Prim mimicked her sister's stance. "Because you always treat me like a baby!"

"You're my little sister. It's my job to look after you!"

"No, it's not! You're not-"

"You're not real!" The panhandler jumped in front of the younger girl. "YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

The blonde flinched from the ranting man. "Get away from me!" Prim's voice sounded panicked. "Katniss!"

The man didn't listen. "What are you? You don't exist! What are you doin'-"

Katniss shoved the guy several feet into a lamppost. "Get away from my sister, you creep!"

Stumbling slightly, the man turned his eyes to the Slayer. He was insane, Katniss thought to herself, utterly and completely insane. Instead of doing what he was told, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife.

The stakes just got higher.

"Oh my god!" Her sister's voice was high-pitched, terrified.

Katniss couldn't concentrate on her right now. She had a duty. A duty to protect people, even annoying little sisters. Never letting her eyes leave the crazed man, Katniss slipped her purse off her shoulder. "Prim, get behind me."

The young teen stood, frozen in fear. She didn't move. Prim just stared at the man, terror shining in her eyes.

Luckily, Katniss was able to get over to her sister and shove her behind her. Thank goodness. That meant Katniss could focus all of her attention on keeping them safe. The problem was, how to keep Prim from finding out about her secret identity. Maybe she could knock the knife out of the dude's hand and they could take off like a bat out of hell? That would require Prim to actually run, and unfortunately her sister's panic response was to stand there like a statue. Why couldn't she have a flight response instead of a freeze response? It'd be so much more useful. Still, she couldn't let herself get distracted.

Katniss started to swing her purse when a male voice called out, "Hey! Get out of here!"

The crazy man's head whipped to his left, staring at the other dude.

"Go on! Get! Don't make me call the cops on you."

The voice sounded familiar. Katniss hazarded a glance to see who their would-be-rescuer was. It was her mom's partner, Dr. Gloss Benjamin. The pediatrician was puffed up menacingly, showing off his almost bodybuilder physique.

As if he suddenly realized he was outnumbered, the panhandler took off running, weaving his way through a crowd of people who'd just stopped to stare at the confrontation. A bunch of worthless looky-lous. Not one of them had offered to help.

Feeling her shoulders start to untense, Katniss turned to Gloss. "Thanks for the assist." She could have taken Mr. Crazy Pants, but at least this way she wasn't in danger of exposing her secret identity to the whole world.

"No problem. I figured your mom would have my head if I let you girls get hurt."

Katniss glanced behind her to her sister. The girl was staring at the young doctor, stars sparkling in her eyes. The only thing that would make it worse, Katniss thought with a groan, would be if Prim channeled her inner melodramatic damsel in distress.

"My hero!"

Yup. It was worse.

 **oOo**

"And so then, big bad Dr. Benjamin swoops in to save the day!" Katniss explained to Peeta, gesticulating with one hand to accentuate her point. "You would think he was riding a freaking unicorn pooping rainbows everywhere, according to my sister." The two were patrolling through one of Panem's many cemeteries. Although that might be a little generous. The baker was patrolling. Katniss was ranting.

"So I take it Prim's got a crush?" he asked, his tone mild.

Katniss paused to stake a newly risen vampire in the chest. "Oh yeah. A big one. It's so annoying! I mean, first off, he's like super old. And second, he works with our mom. Talk about awkward!"

Peeta glanced away. "Yeah, I suppose that is kind of a big age difference."

He sounded dejected. Katniss replayed their conversation in her head. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just… she's my baby sister. Yesterday she was playing with Barbies. Today she's all 'I want to have Dr. Benjamin's babies!'"

"You're exaggerating."

"No really, I'm not! Prim's still got her Barbie dreamhouse!"

"And you're so much more mature than she is?"

Katniss shrugged. "I'm the Slayer. I left childhood behind a long time ago."

Peeta paused, reaching out to take her hand. "When were you called?"

"February."

"That's less than a year ago."

"It feels like a lifetime ago." Katniss stared off into the distance. "I mean, last year I was dreaming about seeing 'N Sync in concert, and wondering if Pike was gonna ask me out. Now I have to think about how to hide blood from my mom and whether or not I'm gonna be kicked out of yet another school."

"I'm sorry." His thumb stroked her hand, sending little shivers of pleasure up her arm. "You didn't ask for it, but, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think I've seen a better Slayer."

"Thanks." She pulled her hand away, turning to stake the vampire that was sneaking up on them. "It's just… it's hard, you know. I'd like to do something normal for once and not worry about creatures of the night interrupting my dates!"

"So this is a date?"

Katniss rolled her eyes. "It's not a date."

A lily appeared out of her peripheral vision. "It could be, if you want."

She turned to see him holding a flower out toward her. "Did you just pick that up from one of the graves?"

Peeta had the decency to look embarrassed.

"That's kind of creepy. Sweet, but creepy."

"I'll do better next time."

Katniss took the flower and gave it a sniff. The blossom smelled sweet, but underneath was the odor of death. She grimaced.

"Maybe I can make it up to you. I know this great all-night coffee shop." He looked down at his wristwatch. "And the band might still be playing."

"Sounds like fun."

"Great. It's a date!"

"It's not a date! What is it with you and trying to make everything a date? I don't even really know you!" She paused mid-rant. "Besides, you're like a thousand years older than me."

"Please. Two hundred and seventy two."

Katniss cocked her head, giving him a look.

"If you're really being technical, I'm only six years older than you. Not nearly as creepy as Prim and your mom's partner."

"Oh please. It's still illegal in like thirty states, including California."

"It's not like I'm asking you to have sex with me. Just a date. You know, two people. Talking. Getting to know each other," Peeta explained. "I'm kind of old fashioned. I'm not one of those guys to kiss on the first date. Or the second. Or the third. Or the twenty-fifth." He made a face and reconsidered. "Well, no. Maybe the twenty-fifth. But only if the girl wants to." He took an unneeded breath. "So… do you want to?"

"Kiss?" Katniss was confused.

"No! Go on a date."

"But you're a vampire."

"So good of you to notice."

"And I'm the Slayer."

"And?"

"Vampires and Slayers…" She gestured between the two of them. "We've kind of got that whole mortal enemy vibe going on."

"Yeah, but we're also Katniss and Peeta. Two souls looking for a connection."

"That is, quite possibly, the cheesiest thing ever."

"You clearly haven't tasted my cheese buns."

She tilted her head. "Is that a metaphor for something?"

He smirked at her. "Stop getting distracted by my buns, Katniss. You, me, coffee, date?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. It's a date."

The smile on his face was as radiant as the sun.

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **4/30/16  
 **Revised:** 6/16/16

So once again, as is par for the course in our stories, Prim has decided entirely on her own who she's interested in. We swear that girl has opinions and wants to try to date every single character in the Hunger Games universe. Seriously.

Up Next: Part Four - Partners? Partners!

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	10. Ep 2 - Partners? Partners!

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
Episode Two: Family**  
 _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Four - Partners? Partners!

 **oOo**

Like every other school in America, the week before Thanksgiving Break was one of the most difficult for both teachers and students. No one really wanted to be there and everyone was distracted in some way, shape, or form.

Unfortunately, being the Slayer made it even harder. On top of the listlessness in regards to the upcoming holiday, Katniss really didn't feel like training. Or patrolling. Or doing pretty much any of her 'sacred duty.' She'd much rather be shopping or hanging out with her friends or flirting with Peeta.

Peeta.

She had to admit she was attracted to the souled vampire, even though it went against everything she stood for as a Slayer. He was funny, kind, smart, and really, really easy on the eyes.

But as much as she wanted to take the whole week off and spend it with Peeta, she had a job to do. And if she played hooky, well, who knew what would happen? Maybe this weekend, when her parents went out of town, she could take some time off from her duty and her homework and see her not-quite-boyfriend. But not right now.

Now, she had sacred duty training. Something that didn't mix with vampires, souled or not.

So when she entered the library after school, she was surprised to see Peeta leaning up against the counter, chatting amiably with her father. Beside his elbow was a small glowing orb. "Peeta! What are you doing here?" she asked, a feeling of dread growing in her stomach.

"Hey, Katniss." He looked up and flashed her a smile meant only for her. "I found this and it looked like something you should be aware of."

Mr. Everdeen's eyes narrowed, observing the whole exchange. "What makes you say that?"

Great. Her father was in over-protective parent mode. "He knows, Dad."

"Knows what?"

"He knows I'm the Slayer," she explained patiently. No need to set him off more. "He was there the night of the Reaping. He helped me."

"Ah. I suppose I should say thank you then."

"No problem," Peeta replied, smiling at the other man. "Glad to help."

They didn't get a chance to talk more because they were joined by Haymitch, Madge, and Gale.

"Will this week ever end?" Haymitch asked, pulling his ever-present flask out of his jacket pocket. "I need a drink."

"Should you really have that on school grounds?" Madge gave him a look.

"Yes, absolutely, I should have this school grounds. How else would I get through the day teaching you monsters?"

"I'd take offense to the whole monster thing, but I kind of agree with you." Gale dropped his backpack by the counter. It landed with a loud thump. "Would you be willing to share?"

"And contribute to the delinquency of a minor?" Haymitch passed him the flask. "Sure."

Mr. Everdeen reached across the counter and plucked the flask from the teen's hands before he could take a drink. "You know I can't condone this, Haymitch," he said, handing it back to the other man.

Haymitch took a swig, then tucked it back into his pocket. "Sorry kid, looks like you're outta luck. So," he said, turning to the Slayer, "ready to have your ass handed to you?"

"Um… what would happen if I said I have other plans?"

"I suppose I'd tell you to cancel 'em."

Katniss groaned. "I don't see why we have to do this here. Wouldn't the gym make more sense?"

"It would, but I don't think you feel like explaining to the cheerleaders why the gym teacher's kicking your butt."

"Fine," she said, moving away from the counter and slipping into a ready stance.

The older man tossed her a foam spear, then stood across from her, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting. "Whenever you're ready, sweetheart."

Katniss launched into an attack, trying to overpower the older man. Haymitch countered, and the sparring session was on.

"Is this normal?" Peeta asked, watching the Watcher and Slayer go at it.

"Yes." Mr. Everdeen winced when Haymitch jabbed the tip of his spear into his daughter's knee.

"So… he trains her in front of strangers?"

Mr. Everdeen shrugged. "He's not the most conventional Watcher."

Peeta looked at the fighters. "I would say not. Does he even know I'm here?"

Haymitch blocked an overhead swing from Katniss and turned to look at the two men. "Noticed you, saw you had a mystical thingy, figured you were here seeking help of the researchy kind, which makes you Sir Not My Problem." He turned back to his Slayer. "You're telegraphing your moves, sweetheart. Knock it off."

Katniss lashed out with a snap kick, which Haymitch easily deflected. "See, that? Knew it was coming."

"You have got to be the most annoying Watcher in the history of ever!"

"He's right, Katniss. You are telegraphing your moves," Peeta spoke up. "You keep dropping your shoulder and every time you throw a kick, you do this little hitch thing." He demonstrated, rolling his shoulders.

"I don't need this from you too," Katniss snapped.

Peeta held up his hands in defeat.

"Why is it I can take out super-powered vamps but one drunken gym teacher gives me trouble?"

"Because I fight smart, not hard. Now try again."

The two resumed their sparring while the rest of the group turned their attention to the mystical glowing orb. Well… not all of the group. Madge was regarding Peeta with an expression of intense concentration.

The vampire shifted slightly under her gaze, giving her his profile.

Madge snapped her fingers. "That's where I remember you from! From the Arena! You were the one who helped in Katniss's fight!"

Peeta nodded and glanced at her, then looked back at Katniss. "Yeah, that was me."

"You don't go to school here, do you?" Gale asked. "I don't think I've seen you around."

"No, I'm not in school."

Mr. Everdeen frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I work in my family's business."

"Surely you could attend school if you wanted to. Gone are the days when child labor was more accepted."

"I'm a bit old for high school anyway." Peeta shrugged. "And there doesn't really seem a point to going to college. I already know my future." Peeta never took his eyes off of Katniss.

"So… what are your intentions towards my daughter?" Mr. Everdeen asked, leaning forward on the counter.

"That's up to Katniss."

"No, that's up to me." The man's voice was hard. "You do realize my daughter is only fifteen."

From the floor, Katniss bristled, allowing Haymitch to sweep her legs out from underneath her.

"Pay attention. Distractions'll get you killed."

Katniss countered, kicking out Haymitch's knee, causing Haymitch to land flat on his back. "You were saying, old man?"

Haymitch cackled, rising up onto his elbows. "Looks like I actually got a fighter in this Slayer. Who'd'a thunk it?"

Katniss sprung to her feet and glared at her father. Her father glared right back.

Madge and Gale stared as the silent battle of wills took place between the two Everdeens while Haymitch slipped over and offered Peeta his flask.

Peeta waved it away. "Look, we're friends. And nothing says we have to start dating right now. I'm willing to wait."

Katniss tore her eyes from her father and gave Peeta an incredulous look.

He held up his hands. "What? I am."

Haymitch snorted. "Heard that line before." He paused, taking a sip. "Said it a couple times. We both know it's a lot of codswallop."

"I am not letting you date my fifteen year old daughter."

Katniss opened her mouth to protest.

"And that's final," Mr. Everdeen said, holding up one finger.

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "Fine."

"I can respect your rules, Mr. Everdeen," Peeta said, "but I'd still like to be your daughter's friend and training partner."

Both Watchers turned their full attention to him. To his credit, Peeta refused to squirm under the weight of their combined gazes.

"What makes you think you'd be a better training partner than me, boy?" Haymitch was the first to break the silence.

"How about I'm younger than you? Stronger. And these two can vouch that I can hold my own in a fight against vampires."

"He's right, Mr. Abernathy," Madge told him. "He's a really good fighter. Almost better than Katniss."

Gale shook his head. "He's not almost better than her. He is better than her. At least in hand to hand. Doubt he could beat her with a bow."

"Where'd you get your trainin'?" Haymitch wanted to know, his grey eyes never leaving the blond's face.

"Here and there. Wrestling, martial arts. I've been training most of my life." Peeta smiled wryly. "My family insisted on it."

"Probably wise, considering you're livin' on a Hellmouth. Alright," Haymitch said, taking a step back. "Come at me, boy. Show me what you got."

Peeta did.

 **oOo**

The grand reopening of the Arena wasn't grand and it was barely an opening, Katniss thought to herself as she surveyed the club. It could've been because it was a Monday night, or it could've been because the late autumn California skies decided to open up and blast everyone with an unexpected downpour. A few hearty, mostly tone-deaf, souls had ventured out to partake in karaoke and the half-priced drink specials. Although the Slayer wished they'd stayed home. Still, she shouldn't complain too much.

"Man, I can't believe it's raining. On tonight of all nights!" Katniss groaned, flopping her head back against the high backed booth. "I could use the stress relief of a good slay!" Okay, just because she shouldn't complain didn't mean she wouldn't.

Madge took a sip of her drink. "I suppose you could always try slaying in the rain?"

"And ruin my shoes?" Katniss said, holding up a pair of boots. They were a chocolate brown suede with a chunky heel. "Please, my mom would have a fit."

"I suppose you could always try slaying in the rain," Gale echoed. He started humming, one of his fingers tapping against the table.

Katniss glared at him. "Thanks for the suggestion, Gene Kelly. Think I'll pass."

Gale shrugged. "Up to you."

"So what's got you all 'grrr, I need to kill things'?" Madge stirred her water.

"My dad. Did you hear him today? 'What are your intentions with my daughter?'" she mimicked her father's deeper tones. "'Don't even think about dating my daughter, young man!' I mean, it's not like I want to date Peeta anyways, but who's he to tell me who I can and cannot date?"

Madge started to raise her hand. "Um, Katniss, he's your Watcher and he's your father. Kind of a one two punch right there." Her tone was apologetic.

But her point was well made, even if Katniss didn't want to admit it. "Yeah, well, it's still my decision who and when I get to date. I mean," she motioned at Gale, "you dated Delly for, what, forever?"

"Yeah, pretty much." A spasm of pain crossed Gale's features. "But me and Delly were different. Pretty sure the guy you got the hots for falls into the 'too old for you' category."

Katniss glared at Gale.

The boy refused to back down. "What? Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with a high school student dating someone who's clearly in their twenties?"

If only he knew. Upping her glare from icy to daggeriffic, Katniss crossed her arms over her chest. "Thanks for the lecture, Gale. It makes me feel so much better after the one I got from Dad earlier today."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what. I'll make it up to you. Fuzzy navel?"

"Isn't that alcoholic?"

"Pretty sure Caesar's got a non-alcoholic version."

"Wouldn't that be just orange juice?" Madge pointed out.

"Why am I not surprised that you know how a fuzzy navel's made, Madge?" The icy atmosphere dropped away.

The blonde haired girl shrugged. "They're pretty popular at my dad's receptions. Along with sex on the beach and tequila sunrises." She let out a bark of rueful laughter. "If the drink's made from California produce, I'm pretty sure I know what goes into it."

"So virgin fuzzy navel… you want one?" Gale pressed, his lips twitching.

Katniss shook her head. "Nah, I'll just stick with coke. At least I know what's in it." She took a large swig from her glass.

"Yeah, cocaine."

And immediately spit the soft drink out. "Thank you for ruining soft drinks for me, Madge."

"What, I thought you knew what was in it," Madge protested, handing her friend a handful of paper napkins.

While she sopped up her mess, the Slayer whined, "Can't I just have five minutes where people stop playing kick the Katniss?"

"Sure," Madge said, patting her affectionately on the head. "Why don't we go look for a song to sing? You kick ass at karaoke."

Katniss groaned but followed her anyway, leaving Gale with clean up duty.

 **oOo**

The library at Sunnydale High School looked like it'd been through a hurricane. A hurricane made up entirely of old and dusty books.

Seated in the proverbial eye of the storm was Madge, a boxy laptop open in front of her, glaring at the book in her hands like it had personally insulted her. "Why do you not have a table of contents? Or an index?"

"I believe the author did not wish for his words to be easily accessed," Mr. Everdeen answered, even though the question had been rhetorical. He had a large book open on the table in front of him, which he was paging through. Every so often, he wrote something in a small book that looked like a diary or a journal.

"But why?"

He made a note. "Probably to keep those with nefarious designs from understanding what was within in case the book fell into the wrong hands."

"Well that's just stupid," Madge said, getting to her feet, "and annoying."

Mr. Everdeen looked up at her and smiled. "Well, yes."

She stretched, loud pops and cracks coming from her spine. "How do you ever find anything?"

"Memory, mostly."

"You mean you've read all these books?" Madge's eyes drifted from the table to the bookshelves that lined the room. Then she shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, not all of them," Mr. Everdeen said, his lips still quirked up at the corners. "I do admit Sweet Valley High is a bit beyond me." He shrugged, turning the page in the book in front of him. "But it seems popular with the students, so what can you do?"

Madge stared at him. "I don't know. Set up a card catalog or something."

"We do have one." Mr. Everdeen motioned to the wooden case off to one side without looking up.

"Yeah, but are these books listed in there?" She held up the one she was looking at. "If I go to magical mystery shiny round thing, will I find books that contain information on the right subjects?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Madge sighed and sat back down in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "So what you're saying is that basically this is a needle in a haystack search, and we don't even have a magnet."

The librarian let out a low bark of laughter. "That is an accurate way of assessing the situation."

"We've got to do something about this." Her face and tone resolute.

"Discovering the purpose of the orb? I agree." The orb itself was safely tucked away in his office where the students couldn't see it, but they still had no idea what it actually was, despite all their research.

"No… well, that too. I mean, we have all of this information," she gestured at the piles and piles of books, "but by the time we finally find the stuff we need, the apocalypse will be over!"

"I take it you have a suggestion?" Mr. Everdeen set down his pen, giving the girl his full attention.

Madge nodded. "We could scan the books in, and I could write a program that would help us find certain key words. Like sphere or circle or, hell, Reaping. That way we could just know which books to even start looking in rather than having to dig through the whole entire library."

Mr. Everdeen thought about it for a few moments. "It's not a bad idea. But would this program be construed as reading aloud, per se?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe?"

"The reason I ask is that there are certain books which are fine if read silently, but if read aloud are essentially spell incantations or triggers for certain events."

"What do you mean?"

Mr. Everdeen leaned over and picked up a dark leather bound book. "Well, this one, for instance. It has lots of useful information about various demons. I reference it regularly. Unfortunately, it also contains a demon trapped within its pages. Scattered throughout the book are incantations which could release the demon. I would not recommend reading the book aloud unless you wish to free Moloch from his prison."

"So we don't scan that book," Madge agreed with a little shudder. "But that doesn't mean we can't still have it in our database. We can summarize it, create a table of contents for it. You say it's good for knowing about demons? That's good enough. We can list the demons and give the warning, we won't scan the entire text. We don't have to be super specific for each book, just enough to narrow the search."

"Right. I must admit, it would make researching go much quicker. My wife isn't happy with how late I've been staying some nights. I wish…" he trailed off, refusing to finish the thought. He straightened and regarded his student with a hopeful expression on his face. "So how long do you think this project of yours will take?"

Madge stood up again and looked around her, eyeing the piles upon piles of books. "Well, it's not like I have a lot of plans between now and graduation."

 **oOo**

The night before Thanksgiving, Katniss and Peeta were out patrolling one of Panem's many cemeteries. It could have been Memorial Gardens, Gardens Memorial, or Jardines Memorial. Whichever one it was, Katniss didn't know and really didn't care. She was just grateful that after two days of non-stop rain, she was finally able to get out and exercise a little bit of slay therapy.

Peeta followed her, a bemused expression on his face. "So… I'm guessing you have a little bit of anger to work out."

"You might say that," Katniss snapped back mid-staking. The fledgling vampire didn't even get a chance to climb entirely out of the grave before it exploded into dust. "It's just… I must have the world's worst Watchers in the history of Slayers. One of them wants to kick my ass, the other wants to prevent me from having any fun."

"I thought that was a hallmark of fathers everywhere."

"Yeah, well, my dad takes the cake." Katniss frowned at the pile of dust at her feet. It was too bad she couldn't slay it more. "Most kids can at least go to school to get away from their parents, I have to visit a cemetery to see my boyfriend."

"Am I your boyfriend?" Peeta blurted out, taking a breath he didn't need. "When did that happen?"

"When my dad thought it'd be a good idea to forbid me from seeing you."

"So... sending him a thank you note would probably be out of line." He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled deeply.

"Go ahead and do it." Katniss laughed, leaning back into his embrace. He smelled of freshly baked bread and something warm and sugary. "I'd find it funny even if no one else did."

"As much as I'd like to, it's probably not a good idea. He might forbid me from seeing you altogether, and that's the last thing I want." He tightened his embrace for a moment before releasing her.

Katniss sighed, wishing he hadn't let her go and that what he was saying didn't make sense. "You're right. He would." She turned and tilted her head. "When did you get so smart?"

"Sometime during the Age of Aquarius. Ate a flower child and spent a couple days staring at my hand."

The answer was so quick, so glib, she couldn't help the little pig snort of laughter. Oh crap, now she sounded like a farm animal. What was next? Mooing? To cover her embarrassment, she crossed her arms and glared at him. "You're making fun of me."

"Maybe. Got you to laugh-" Peeta paused and started looking around, his eyes narrow and his whole body tense.

Katniss straightened, automatically slipping into a battle stance. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," he answered, still scanning the surroundings. "Almost felt like someone was watching."

"Vampire?"

"Can't you tell?"

"Hellmouth plays wonky with Slayer vamp senses, especially at a distance." Katniss shrugged. "Probably 'cause there's so many of them."

"That could be a problem."

"Tell me about it. I'm gonna have to figure out who's the living dead by their poor fashion choices and outdated music preferences. At least until I get used to this place." Katniss paused, then asked in a low tone. "They still watching us?"

Peeta shook his head. "No. Pretty sure whoever it was is gone. It's just…" he trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Whoever it was, they felt… familiar."

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **6/7/16  
 **Revised:** 6/21/16

We always thought it was stupid as fuck that the Buffy characters never actually created an index of what their research books contained. The number of times they did the hunt and peck method of research is insane. The fact that they found anything out at all is a testament to Giles's memory rather than their amazing research skills. Either that or it was one hell of a Deus Ex Machina. Or Deus Ex Pagina if you will. Oh, and there will be no Moloch episode, because the Moloch episode was filler. Pretty much every episode we write is going to be arc or series relevant. Make of that what you will.

Up Next: Part Five - Sibling Rivalry

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	11. Ep2 - Sibling Rivalry

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer**  
 **Episode Two: Family**  
 _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Five - Sibling Rivalry

 **oOo**

The early evening hours of Black Friday were shattered by the sound of two voices raised in argument. Outside of 1630 Park Lane, a man walking an immaculately groomed Yorkshire Terrier with a pink bow on its head paused, listened for a few moments, then scooped up his dog and hurried away.

"I don't see why I have to stay home and you get to go out and do whatever!" The teen's voice was shrill, colored with frustration. "For all I know you could be a serial killer and we'd never even know it!"

Inside the living room, Katniss scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to keep her temper. "I am not a serial killer." Although if she thought about it, she kind of was. Except the things she was killing weren't human and were trying to eat people. So not the point right now. She needed to get Prim to settle down from the teenage temper tantrum she was throwing.

"Then why do you go out every night?" Prim pointed an accusing finger at her sister. "Don't think I don't notice you sneaking out, or Dad staying up to wait for you to come home. What are you doing?"

"None of your business, Prim."

"Does Mom know about this?"

"Prim…"

"She doesn't, does she?" Her sister's voice was triumphant. "Dad's your accomplice! He's your serial killing accomplice!"

Katniss threw her hands up. "That's it, no more Law and Order reruns for you."

"Damn it, Katniss, you're my sister, not my parents!"

"And while Mom and Dad are out of town for the weekend, I'm in charge."

"Yes," Prim countered, putting her hands on her hips, "and what would they say if they found out you were sneaking off and leaving me all by myself so you could drink and party and… and sleep with boys!"

"I am not going out to party!"

Prim's face changed and the blonde girl crossed her arms over her chest. "Well if you're going out, I'm going out."

Katniss stared at her sister. "That's not how it works. You are not Hannibal and this isn't Silence of the Lambs. We aren't doing quid pro quo." She was never having kids. Ever. Babies might be cute but they turned into teenagers. Teenagers were demons in disguise and as the Slayer she knew demons.

Letting out an incoherent noise of teenage rage, her sister stomped her foot and whined, "But Rue's band is playing at this bar tonight! And I told her I'd go. It's her opening night!"

"Well I guess that means you should call her and tell her something came up." Katniss was not going to budge. Her sister did not need to go out, especially not to a bar of all places! Who knew what could be lurking there?

"Yeah, the Wicked Witch of the East." She shot Katniss a look and muttered, "I kinda wish someone would drop a house on my sister."

"You know that makes you the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Yeah, the cool one."

"Whatever. Prim… I need to go. The longer we stand here and argue, the longer it'll take before I get home." Katniss sighed and scrubbed at her face. "Look, when I get back, we can see about going to this bar and watching your friend. Alright?"

Prim shrugged, glaring at her sister. "Not like I got any choice."

"It's not safe for you to be out there on your own. There's…" Katniss's voice trailed off as she struggled to find the right words to say. It wasn't like she could tell Prim that there were demons and vampires just waiting to make a snack out of tasty teens. "Bad people out there." That excuse sounded lame, even to her.

"And there's bad people in here too." Prim narrowed her eyes pointedly.

"I don't have time for this." Katniss glanced at the clock, noting it was ten minutes after seven. "Just… stay here, Prim. Or else I'll tell Mom and Dad to ground you until graduation."

"Fine." The teen stomped upstairs, slamming the door to her bedroom in rage. A few seconds later, the Slayer heard the unmistakeable sounds of the Spice Girls filtering through the closed door.

Katniss shook her head. She wished she could have the worries that her little sister did. About boys and seeing friends, going out on a weekend. She wanted to keep her sister innocent for as long as possible. She missed the old Katniss, who didn't have to worry about 'is tonight the night? Is tonight the night I die?' every day. The Katniss whose only concerns were what movie she was going to watch and if she was going to make it to the state archery finals.

She also missed the old Prim, who didn't go out of her way to push her buttons, who was her best friend. But ever since Katniss became the Slayer, the two had drifted further and further apart. These days, almost all of their conversations devolved into arguments.

It would take a miracle to mend the rift now.

She thought about her plans for the evening and decided she could patrol tomorrow night, when Prim had plans to sleep over at Rue's. Her relationship with her sister was more important. Maybe hot chocolate and cookies would help. Chocolate was a miracle, right?

Her mission firmly in mind, Katniss headed for the kitchen and hopefully reconciliation.

 **oOo**

The window to Prim's room slid open and the girl stuck her head out. After glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, she shimmied out onto the roof. Grabbing ahold of the branch of a nearby tree, Prim swung herself down onto the ground, landing with a loud 'oof' and muffled 'whomp'.

She paused for a second, her eyes darting to and fro, waiting to see if anybody came to investigate.

No one did.

After about a minute, she gingerly got to her feet and brushed her hands off on her jeans. She gave herself a once over, muttering under her breath, "Katniss would kill me if I got dirt on her leather jacket."

Satisfied no permanent damage had been done, the girl hurried off towards town and the bar her friend's band was playing at. She didn't look back.

 **oOo**

Down in the kitchen, Katniss stepped back and surveyed her handiwork. Two types of cookies, oreos and chocolate chip, were arranged neatly on a plate, with an empty bowl just waiting for vanilla ice cream to go into it for cookie dipping goodness. Two steaming mugs of hot chocolate complete with multicolored little marshmallows sat next to it, completing the ensemble. Nothing spells peace offering more than chocolate, Katniss thought to herself with some satisfaction.

"Prim?" she called, hoping her sister would hear her over the dulcet tones of 'Wannabe.' "Can you come down for a moment?"

Silence answered her.

Thinking the younger girl was unable to hear her, Katniss went up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Prim? It's me. I've got chocolate."

Again, no answer.

Frowning, Katniss tried the door. It was locked.

Giant red alarm bells started going off in the Slayer's head. Locked doors were a giant no-no in the Everdeen household. Even their parents' door was kept unlocked, which had led to a few traumatizing childhood incidents.

Knocking on the door again, Katniss called, "Prim, I know you're mad at me. But just because Mom and Dad aren't here doesn't mean you get to lock your door!"

Only the sound of the Spice Girls singing about two becoming one filtered through the door.

Deciding she'd just have to deal with the consequences for the broken lock later, Katniss used her Slayer strength and forced the door open. She expected to see Prim inside, glaring at her accusingly.

Instead, she was confronted by the angry yellow eyes of her sister's kitten. The cat hissed at her before darting downstairs.

"Prim?" she said, looking around.

The room was cold, suspiciously cold. The open window beside the bed told her how. The question was why. It didn't take Katniss long to figure out what her little sister had done. "Damn it, Prim!" she cursed, whirling away from the room. "You'd better hope you're alright. Otherwise, I'm gonna kill you."

Katniss grabbed her jean jacket, wondering where her favorite brown leather jacket had wandered off to. She'd have to look for it later. Right now she had bigger fish to fry. She slipped a stake into her pocket. There was no point in arming up too much; it wasn't like she was going to run into any big bads while tracking down her wayward sister. She didn't want to freak out the normals and the vamp population had been eerily quiet the last few days. Everything would be fine.

Heading outside, she noticed the scuffs in the grass where Prim had landed and footprints indicating the general direction she'd gone in. She was heading towards town, what there was of it, and Katniss hoped she was heading towards the coffee house or the Arena. There were other, skeevier bars on the edge of town, some that were even rumored to cater to less than human clientele. Knowing her luck, her sister was probably at one of those. She set off, her eyes peeled for any signs of the missing teen.

 **oOo**

An hour later, Katniss still hadn't managed to find her wayward sister. The coffee house and the Arena were a bust, as were the first two bars she'd tried.

A weaselly guy named Willy at the second bar mentioned that there was an underground bar out near some of the old warehouses at the edge of town. Kids liked to go there to party and partake in other 'recreational activities.' The guy seemed eager to get her out of there, and considering the loose-skinned demon who waved shyly from the corner, she could figure out why. It was a demon bar. Slayers definitely not welcome.

With that information under her belt, the Slayer headed for the warehouse district. When she got there, she could see remnants of partying. Empty solo cups were strewn all about, along with crushed beer cans and other revelling detritus.

"You here for the rave?" a man's voice came from behind her.

Katniss whirled, seeing the pudgy form of a rent-a-cop. "Uh, kinda? I'm looking for my sister."

"Well, if she was here, she's not here now. I chased off about a hundred kids a little bit ago. Cops are on the way. They'll arrest anyone who isn't supposed to be here." He gave her a pointed look.

"So I'll not be here."

"You do that, missy." The man turned away, not even bothering to watch her go.

Groaning under her breath, Katniss turned for home, when a glow caught her eye. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something about it seemed familiar. Mystical.

The Slayer made sure no one was watching before leaping over the chain link fence. Maybe Prim wasn't here. But it looked like something supernatural was. And supernatural was kind of her raison d'être.

She crept forward, her eyes and ears peeled for any signs of an ambush. It could be nothing or it could be a trap, but wandering into things willy-nilly was not how she'd managed to survive for almost a year as the Slayer.

From inside the nearest warehouse, she heard a crash and a woman screaming invectives. "Where is it, you miserable meatbag? The sooner you tell me, the sooner all this pain stops!"

Well, didn't that just sound peachy?

Katniss pulled her stake out of her pocket, wishing she'd had the foresight to pack something with a little more firepower. It could be anything, even a human. For all she knew, she'd stumbled into a recreation of Reservoir Dogs.

She glanced back at the glow, but it could wait. Screechy Woman was more important.

She eased her way into the warehouse, crawling through one of the open windows, careful not to make any sound. Katniss didn't know what kind of firepower the woman was packing and, while she could dodge pretty much anything thrown at her, faster than a speeding bullet she was not.

Once she was safely inside, she tiptoed to the edge of some haphazardly stacked crates and peered around them. Stealthy surveillance for the win, she hoped.

Seated in a chair was a man. A monk, judging by his clothes. Blood dripped down his face and the only thing keeping him upright were the ropes binding him to the chair.

Another rent-a-cop was tied to a pipe nearby, duct tape plastered over his mouth.

Great. Just what she needed. Two hostages.

Standing in front of the monk was a blonde woman, her hair styled in a way reminiscent of 1940s and 50s Hollywood starlets. Her dress couldn't have been more out of place in this dingy warehouse: short, pale pink, covered in sequins and crystals. It hugged her curvaceous form and almost glowed in the dim lighting. She wore strappy sandals with at least a three inch stiletto heel, but she moved as easily as though she were wearing sneakers. Katniss was a little jealous. The woman was pretty, beautiful if Katniss was willing to admit it, but the sneer on her face was monstrous.

The blonde reached out and stroked one finger down the monk's cheek, opening a new wound in its wake. "Tell me where the Sheath containing my power is. And both of our pain and suffering can end. I can reclaim my former glory and go home. I won't be tied to this… place with these… people who don't recognize my greatness!" She stabbed the finger down. "While you can die quickly and painlessly. It's win-win!"

The monk tilted his head up, fear and hatred gleaming in his dark eyes. "Just kill me," he rasped out in an accent Katniss couldn't identify. "I will... tell you... nothing." The words took effort, more effort than he could really spare. By the end of his defiance, he was panting for breath.

"No! No! No!" The woman backhanded the monk, sending him careening towards Katniss's hiding place, breaking the chair as he landed.

Katniss watched at the woman stomped around, screaming and kicking and waving her hands in the air. She was mad. And definitely not human.

"That's the wrong answer," the woman said, turning back to the monk. "You can't tell me no. I refuse to accept that." Her head was weaving back and forth in time to her pointed finger. "You'll tell me where my Sheath is right now, or so help me-" Her voice cut off and the woman stood stock still, her eyes turned skyward. "No! No no no no no!" She stomped her foot in time with each negative. "I'm not finished yet!" Her hands flew to her temples like she had a migraine. "I won't let you stop me!"

Somehow Katniss didn't think she was talking to the monk.

The woman's eyes landed on the bound and gagged rent-a-cop. They brightened. She stalked over, her high heels clicking ominously against the cement floor. "Ah, just what I need. Dinner." She stroked the cowering and bound man's face as if he were her pet. "You know, my brother always says you make bad decisions on an empty stomach." She shoved her fingers into the man's skull, a sickly glow emanating from them. After a few seconds, the glow stopped and she pulled her fingers out. "Turns out the little annoyance is right."

The guard groaned.

She looked down at him. "Did you know you taste like donuts?" She cocked her head, waiting for a response.

A second muffled moan came from the man.

Realization dawned. "Oh, silly me, you can't say anything with that tape on your mouth." She ripped it off.

The man let out a scream. "Monster! Demon! Beast!"

"Well that's just rude." The blonde's eyes hardened. "Be nice now." It was a threat.

The guard didn't care. He continued to scream like a man possessed. "So hideous! Return to hell! Foul! Evil! Ugly!"

The last struck a chord. The woman screeched, backhanding the bound man. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Realizing this was probably her best chance to save at least one of the hostages, Katniss crept around the boxes toward the monk, her eyes never leaving the psycho-bitch.

Taking several calming breaths, said psycho-bitch brought herself under control. "Look at what you made me do! I almost broke a nail!" She studied the fingers on her right hand for a moment. "You clearly don't know how to talk to your betters. I oughta teach you a lesson." She reached out with both hands and twisted the man's neck around with an audible snap. "There! Lesson learned."

Katniss winced. There went any chance of saving the rent-a-cop. But there was still one person she could rescue. She refocused on the monk. Reaching his location, Katniss tried to untie him from the remains of the chair. It was no use. Without a knife, the knots were too tight. She didn't want to risk hurting the man even more than he already was.

The man's eyes fluttered open, then widened as if he recognized her. "You must go," he breathed. "The Beast... must not get you."

Katniss glanced over her shoulder, noting that the woman was still talking to the now dead rent-a-cop. "You shouldn't be here either."

"My time on this earth... is almost finished."

"Yeah, well, it's not done yet. Let's go." Katniss gave up on untying him. Instead, she hoisted the man up, broken chair and all, and started dragging him toward the nearest exit.

They were less than five feet away from safety when she heard an irritated feminine voice from behind her, "And just where are you taking my monk?"

"Uh… Ice Capades?" Katniss winced. It was the first thing that had come to mind; now she had to run with it. "Monks really like Ice Capades and we we had tickets for tonight, and you were busy with that other dude, so I thought maybe we could catch the show, make it in time for intermission." She sounded like an idiot for sure. No help for it. The majority of her brain power was trying to come up with a battle plan.

The woman looked at her like she was insane. "Huh?"

"Ice Capades. It's all the rage with the monkly sort."

"Do you really expect me to believe that crap?"

"It was the hope. I guess you're not buying it."

"That would be a giant no."

"So I guess that means we're gonna fight." Katniss knew the blonde was strong; hopefully the Slayer was stronger.

The woman sniffed. "You? Fight me? Little girl, do you know who you're dealing with?"

"Reject from Prince's Diamonds and Pearls concert?"

"Oh you bitch!" she snarled. "I'm gonna enjoy wrapping your intestines around your neck!"

"I think you need to get a new hobby. Maybe something with a little less bedazzling." Katniss knew she was pressing the woman's buttons, but if there was one thing Haymitch had taught her, it was that the angrier you made your opponent, the more distracted they became. She was counting on it giving her an advantage now.

Katniss lowered the monk to the ground and leapt forward. Her fist made contact with the woman's cheek and the Slayer stifled a cry of pain. It felt like she was hitting pure concrete. In fact, concrete was softer than this sequined disaster's cheek.

"Oh!" The concrete-faced woman took a step back. "That almost hurt. You've got power, little one. Just not enough power." The woman's hand lashed out, swiping Katniss into a nearby support column.

The Slayer heard an ominous crack and hoped it wasn't anything too important. Like her spine.

"See, little girl, now that's power." The monster stalked toward her, her heels echoing with each step. "And since you so rudely interrupted," she kicked the fallen Slayer, "maybe you know where I can find my Sheath."

"Your what?" Katniss asked, breathing shallowly to lessen the pain.

"My Sheath. For my powers. Last time I saw it, it was this glowing green ball of energy. So pretty. And these… men," she snarled the word like it was an insult, "stole it from me. But this little boy," she sauntered over to the prostrate monk, "is gonna tell me where it is. Or he's gonna spend his last few agonizing moments wondering just how many pieces I can break his bones into before he dies. Let's find out!" She lifted her foot and brought it down hard on the man's hip.

The monk screamed.

Katniss struggled to her feet, holding her ribs. She was pretty sure one or two of them were cracked, if not broken. There was no way she'd be able to take this whatever she was on by herself. She had to find a way to get herself and the monk out of here. "Hey, bedazzle bitch! You and me aren't done yet!"

The woman let out a frustrated groan and rolled her eyes. "Doesn't anyone know how to stay down?" She stomped over. "Why don't I put you out of my misery and then I can get back to what I was doing."

Katniss inched around, trying to position herself so she could make a run for it.

"This whole day has been so frustrating." The woman punctuated her words with a stamp of her foot. "I could just kill something." She tilted her head. "And seeing as you volunteered, I guess that means you're up." She brought her foot down again, opening a crack underneath her heel.

The crazy woman paused in surprise, regarding the damage. Almost like she couldn't resist, she slammed her foot on top of the crack. It widened into a fissure, swallowing her whole.

It was the opportunity for escape Katniss was looking for.

Not bothering to see if she was being followed, Katniss ran for the door, snatching up the injured monk along the way.

Behind her, she heard the warehouse collapsing and the bedazzled bitch screaming in frustration. That noise she'd heard earlier must have been the support column breaking. The woman's temper tantrum had caused the whole building to become unstable.

Katniss didn't think a collapsing building would stop crazy-sequin-dress for long, but it would hopefully be long enough for the two of them to get to safety.

She reached the edge of the fence and realized there was no way she could go out the same way she came in, by jumping over. She needed to find a gate. Unfortunately, none were anywhere in view. Carefully, she set the man down and said, "Wait here. I gotta find a way out."

The man looked up at her, his eyes glazed over in pain, and shook his head. "No. Save yourself. Leave... me. I am... finished."

"I really don't think you should be arguing with me."

The man coughed, blood tinging his lips. "I can feel... my life flowing out of me. You need to protect…" He coughed again as he tried to breathe.

"Protect what?" Katniss asked once he seemed able to speak.

"The Sheath."

"What is this Sheath?"

The man shook his head. "No… time. I have information. Hidden." He motioned feebly to where Katniss had seen the supernatural glow earlier. "Look for the sphere. It will... shield you." He coughed once more, then let out a final breath.

Katniss heard the air rattle in his chest and she knew he was dead.

Scurrying back to where he'd indicated, where she'd seen that glow earlier, Katniss rooted around in the discarded garbage. It didn't take long to find another of those glowing orb things and a slim leather-bound book. This must've been the information the monk mentioned.

Behind her, Katniss heard a rumble coming from the collapsed warehouse. Somehow, the Slayer suspected it wasn't falling debris. Time to make like a tree and leave.

Deciding that looking for a gate would take too much time, Katniss threw the sphere and the book over the fence, then hauled herself up, feeling her ribs and side pinch with each movement. When she reached the other side, she heard sirens approaching and remembered what the rent-a-cop had said: the police were on their way. The last thing she wanted to do was be discovered near a dead body, not with her record. The police would blame her.

Clutching the two items to her chest, the Slayer melted away into the night, hoping that wherever her sister was, she was nowhere near this place.

 **oOo**

Katniss limped up onto the front porch of her house, noting the lights were on inside. She couldn't remember if she'd left them on before she'd gone out or not.

It didn't matter. She needed to get inside and take care of her injuries before they got worse or Slayer healing kicked in and they healed incorrectly. If Prim wasn't home, she'd have to find her sister later.

As soon as she opened the door, Prim's voice called out, "Katniss? Is that you?" The younger teen sounded worried.

Katniss felt her shoulders untense a little. Prim was safe, and home. At least that was one worry down. Glancing at the grandfather clock in the hall, she noted it was almost one am. It had taken her over three hours to walk home from the warehouse. No wonder her sister sounded upset. "Yeah, it's me." Even talking hurt.

The pain must've come through in her voice, because Prim hurried into the hall, her face a study in concern. "What happened to you?"

"Went looking for you."

Prim's eyes darted from Katniss's face to her torn and stained clothing. "Looks like you got your ass handed to you."

"Language... and pretty much, yeah."

"What happened?"

"Like I said, went looking for you. Stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time. Got jumped." Katniss had come up with a plausible lie during her long trek home in case she ran into anyone she knew. "The thugs beat me up and stole my wallet. While they were distracted, I managed to get away. Spent the last three hours walking home."

"Oh Katniss I am so so sorry! At least tell me you got a few hits in?"

"I was pretty much concentrating on not dying." Katniss gave her sister a look. "Promise me, Prim, you won't sneak out like that again. There are dangerous people out there."

Prim crossed her arms. "I could say the same thing about you."

"I don't think I'm gonna be going out alone again anytime soon." Katniss grimaced, holding a hand to her aching ribs. "You think you can help me upstairs to my room?"

"Of course! Sure! Is there anything else I can do?"

"I could really go for some hot chocolate right now. Maybe a little sisterly bonding time."

Prim looked away from her, abashed. "I noticed the mugs sitting out on the counter when I got home. I'm sorry, I kind of ate the oreos."

"They were for you anyway."

"I left you the chocolate chip." It was hopeful. A peace offering.

Katniss would take it. Managing a wan smile, the Slayer murmured, "Thanks, Prim. You're the best sister anyone could ask for."

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **6/11/16  
 **Revised:** 6/23/16

So you may have noticed a few things… First off Prim and Katniss. Again we know they're not in character in regards to the Hunger Games. We're taking more here from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Buffy and Dawn's relationship at the beginning of Season Five. Things will change. Become more like you're used to. But this Prim and Katniss also have the liberty and freedom to have sibling rivalry, not to mention they're a lot closer in age.

Secondly, those of you who are familiar with Buffy may have figured out that we're not going with the exact story arc of Buffy. This is deliberate. We have opinions on Buffy. Strong opinions. We like it, but there are filler episodes and plots that don't always make sense. So we're changing those things. Besides, it would be boring to read rehashes of the same exact thing. So what you think you know about BVTS, take it, throw it out, because FanficAllergy and RoseFyre are gonna play.

Up Next: Part Six - Wonderful Tonight

Let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	12. Ep2 - Epilogue - Wonderful Tonight

**Katniss: The Vampire Slayer  
Episode Two: Family**  
 _ **by FanficAllergy & RoseFyre**_

 **oOo**

Part Six - Wonderful Tonight

 **oOo**

The interior of Katniss's room looked like a bomb had exploded. A clothing bomb. Garments were strewn everywhere. On the floor, on the back of the desk chair, at the foot of the bed, and in one memorable instance, hanging from one of the wall sconces.

Seated cross legged in the middle of the bed was Prim, her hair done up in two braids, watching her older sister scurry around with amusement. "So tell me about this guy."

"Peeta?" Katniss paused, looking at a pair of acid washed jeans. "Well, he's older. Um. Helps run his family business. Really cute. He's got arms. They're good arms."

"Uh huh. That doesn't tell me a whole lot. Or help me dress you." She paused, a playful twinkle in her eye. "Besides, I've already seen what he looks like, remember? Dinner? I already know he's full of twinkie goodness. If you weren't all 'grr mine!' I might consider crushing on him."

"Oh my God! Please stop talking! Or at least change the subject!"

Prim laughed. "Okay, fine. So… where are you going?"

Thankful that her sister wasn't talking about Peeta's hotness anymore, Katniss turned back to her closet. She liked green. Maybe she should wear green. "He's taking me to see Annie Get Your Gun at UC Panem." She pulled a green sweater out and eyed it with distaste. Too Christmassy. It got tossed on the already overfull bed. "And then we're doing coffee and dessert afterwards."

Prim frowned. "So what you're telling me is that you have to find that perfect outfit that's dressy enough for a show but casual enough for coffee."

"Nailed it. Doesn't help that he's been everywhere and done everything." Katniss held up a shiny blue tank top, then shook her head and chucked it behind her. It hit the window before falling to the floor.

"Was he in the military or something?"

"Or something." For all she knew, Peeta'd been in the military. They had a military back in the Eighteenth Century, right?

"'Cause I'd suggest going naked," Prim continued, her tone teasing, "but he's probably seen that."

Katniss blushed, thinking that Peeta probably had seen naked women before. He was over two hundred and fifty years old. It'd be a little weird if he were still a virgin. She sighed internally. He'd seen so many things, done so many things, why was he interested in a girl like her? She rubbed her arms, more to comfort herself than because she was cold.

"You should probably wear something long sleeved," Prim suggested, looking at her sister's still healing arms. "I'm just glad that cut you got on your face healed. You would've looked really weird with half your face covered by your hair."

Katniss nodded, thinking she was definitely not the Jessica Rabbit type. She didn't have the cleavage for one. She wasn't animated for another. "It wasn't too bad. And neosporin does wonders."

"You're just lucky you didn't break anything when you got jumped." Prim played with one of Katniss's pillows. "Have I mentioned I'm still really sorry about that?"

"Not in the last five minutes. But yeah, I'm lucky nothing got broken." Katniss hated lying to her sister, but there was no way she'd be able to explain the whole Slayer gig to Prim.

Being the Slayer really sucked sometimes.

She'd given the book and glowing orb thing to her father to research. Her dad was rightfully concerned about this new player on the Hellmouth. He and Haymitch were spending most of their time trying to figure out who this woman was and what the hell the Sheath could be. It didn't help that the book, in addition to being written in Ancient Greek, also appeared to be in some sort of code. Madge was working on a program to aid them, but even with the added computer help, it was slow going.

"I'm pretty sure that shirt's a no go." Prim's voice sounded amused. "Not really sure why you've been considering it for so long."

Katniss realized she'd been staring at a leopard print tank top. "So what would you suggest?" she asked to cover the fact that she'd been spacing.

"Here." Prim clambered off the bed and started rooting around in the various clothing piles, assembling an outfit. First up were a pair of black knee high heeled boots, followed by a short burgundy skirt and white tank top. "Excuse me." She pushed her sister to the side and snagged the last bit of the ensemble, a black crocheted sweater top. "There. That's an outfit guaranteed to make any boy's heart skip a beat."

That was assuming his heart actually beat, but her sister had a point: the outfit was pretty kick ass. "Thanks, Prim. It looks good." Katniss pulled off her t-shirt and put the tank top on.

"So what'd Mom and Dad have to say about your date?"

"They think I'm going to Madge's to hang out and watch movies."

Prim crossed her arms. "Ah. So you're sneaking out."

"Um, yeah."

"So it's a secret." Prim's eyes gleamed.

"Um, yeah."

"And I'm guessing you want me to cover for you."

"Um, yeah."

Prim looked her sister up and down, taking a moment before replying. "Fine. It's a deal. But you gotta tell me everything about him, and I do mean everything."

Relief flooded through the Slayer. Her secret, or one of them, was safe. "Thanks, Prim."

"What would you do without me?"

"Let's hope I never have to find out," Katniss murmured, giving Prim a hug.

 **oOo**

 **AN:  
Written: **6/11/16  
 **Revised:** 6/23/16

Just as a reminder, all of this takes place in the late nineties. Which means you get nineties fashion. Considering both of us were in high school/college during this time we still have some of the fashions in our closets and remember what was "in" pretty damn well. Yay crochet tops, leopard print, and chucks.

Next Episode: Over the Rainbow - Katniss learns about the Sheath just in time for Christmas.

We look forward to seeing what you think: don't forget to leave a comment on your way out!


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